Doctors and Patients
by Sergeant Duck
Summary: Ratchet may have met his match. All recognizable characters property of HasTak. Post movie/G-1...sort of. Eventual slash later on so rated M I guess.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1 - The Professionals**

Ratchet kept one audio tuned to the various battle traffic while he prepared his med bay for the inevitable arrival of injured

Ratchet kept one audio tuned to the various battle traffic while he prepared his med bay for the inevitable arrival of injured mechs. Bumblebee had run into Barricade again which lead to the call for autobot backup, which lead to Barricade requesting assistance from his decepticon faction, and so on and so forth until Ratchet was the only one left at the base. He wondered if the decepticons had emptied their base of all available personnel as well. Once he was sure he had prepared for just about any kind of scenario his processor could come up with Ratchet sat down and began the waiting game. He listened to the various reports as they were transmitted and hoped it wouldn't be too bad this time around.

Since the events surrounding Mission City both the autobots and the decepticons had been welcoming in new additions to their numbers. A small scout ship with 4 mechs here, a lone transport with 2 mechs there, a medium sized battle frigate with 2 full fire teams…a nasty surprise that had been on learning the decepticons received that advantage! At last count the decepticons outnumbered the autobots but were still unable to take the win. Ratchet accredited that to the fact that the decepticons lacked a leader with half a brain while the autobots had their beloved Prime to lead them.

Ratchet glanced around his med bay and managed a small smile. The grateful humans had no problem in supplying the heroes of Mission City with some land on which to build a base. The med bay had been one of the first things built in their new home. It wasn't like his old bay back on Iacon but Ratchet was pleased with it none the less. Ratchet's thoughts were suddenly jolted back to the present when his name came across the autobot's frequency.

"Ratchet we have a situation, are you able to tend to a critically injured human?" intoned Prowl, Optimus Prime's second in command.

Ratchet frowned at the strange request. "A human? Is there anyway you can get it to one of their medical facilities? I can rebuild a mech damn near from scratch but I wouldn't know the first thing about fixing a human with trauma type injuries."

"No choice. The fighting has made all possible routes to human medical facilities inaccessible."

"What about having a human rescue crew brought to the scene then?"

"I believe that the injured human _is_ the rescue crew."

Frag. Ratchet couldn't help but feel for the human in question. His current form was based off a rescue vehicle after all. "Very well, bring them here. I will see what I can download off the internet that may assist me in treating them."

"Acknowledged. Expect an ETA of 10 minutes."

Ratchet set to work flipping through various medical, fire/rescue, and anatomy websites. It seemed that he had barely scratched the surface of the requested information when the med bay doors slammed open to reveal Sideswipe carrying what looked like the cab of a rescue vehicle similar to his own design. Ratchet blinked in confusion.

"The human is still pinned inside. Prowl thought it would be safer to use our tools here to get them out."

"Makes sense I guess. Are you sure it is even still alive in there?"

Sideswipe shrugged and gently set the mangled metal on the floor. "Starscream fired a missile at it. I think he must of thought it was you or at the very least another autobot. Hey look, I gotta get back to the fight. Sunsteaker is still out there and I think we owe some payback to Starscream for this one. Good luck with the human!" He managed to call out as he transformed and peeled out of the med bay.

Ratchet frowned down at the mess laid before him. He grabbed a variety of tools and set to work in extricating the injured human hoping that it was still alive. "This would be a lot easier if I could use a welding torch, though I doubt you would appreciate me cooking you in the process." he offered the pile of metal. It didn't take long to peel back the inferior metal frame the humans had used on this particular vehicle. There were actually two humans laying in the twisted cab, one of which was female. There was shattered glass sparkling across their bodies and more then a little blood. Ratchet performed a quick scan for life signs but knew it was probably pointless for the heavily injured male. His suspicions were confirmed as the scan revealed the male was beyond his help. The female however was not too bad off. One of her arms appeared broken and she had several cuts though none serious. Flipping through the internet and checking the various medical sites he decided that the female was likely suffering from a concussion which explained the unconsciousness.

Ratchet gently removed the female from the wreckage and placed her on one of the metal berths. He had to adjust the magnification of his optics to be able to bandage her wounds and splint her arm. He managed to find a blanket (probably belonging to Sam) and laid it across the wounded female to help her retain some heat. Now that she was cleaned up a bit Ratchet was able to get a decent look at her. He supposed she was attractive as far as human females went. She was well toned and had dark red wavy hair tied at the nape of her neck. Ratchet glanced back at the wrecked rescue vehicle and sighed. He was a seasoned autobot and the CMO to boot, but despite his experience he found himself dreading telling the female human that her male counterpart did not survive. He imagined that she would not take it well when she found out that they were probably attacked due to mistaken identity. Ratchet noted that the all clear had been sounded across his radio which meant that the autobot wounded would start to wander in. He pushed the berth containing the human to just inside his office and carefully moved the wrecked cab against a far wall. He draped a tarp across it and the dead human it still contained. Autobots protected life, they would learn about the dead human soon enough, but not until after all the wounded were seen to. No need to add disheartened feelings to an already injured mech.

Pain. That was the first thing that registered to Joe. She opened her eyes and had a hard time focusing on her surroundings. Everything seemed very blurry but she did notice the bright lights and the place smelled very clean. A hospital maybe? "I wonder how long I've been out? Ok Joe" she told herself, "let's go over the symptoms." Neck pain, headache, blurry vision, and loss of consciousness…a concussion perhaps? She noticed the splint on her arm and after closer examination decided it was a very minor break. Stings and pains around the rest of her body were a given after a car wreck. She muttered to herself when she realized it would probably take at least 2 weeks to get all the glass worked out of her skin. She could hear voices in another room but couldn't make out what was being said. Joe sat up bringing her good hand up to her head. Wincing slightly she put the pain aside and decided that she would grab some Tylenol from the hospital stock room before trying to help with the patients. After the destruction she witnessed before her own incident there was going to be a lot more patients then medical staff. I'll be damned if they think I am not going to do my job. Speaking of job… "Kevin?" Joe called carefully in an attempt to find her fellow paramedic. The jerk was probably already out there helping out.

Joe swung her legs over the side of the bed and went to stand only to discover that the floor was a lot further away the she thought. She hit the floor with a strangled shout. "What the hell?" Luckily it didn't feel like she had injured herself further so Joe stood up leaning heavily against the insanely tall bed she had just fallen from. She heard a door open.

"Ratchet! Its awake and its loose!" came a shout.

"_It's_ loose?" Joe said with her best frozen ice queen voice. She closed her eyes for a moment and re-opened them in attempt to clear up her vision. Everything was still very blurry. She thought she heard something enter the room and decided that it was time to say her thank-yous to whoever her Doc was and make it clear that she had no intention of remaining in patient status. "Alright, thanks for the catnap Doc, I'll just be needing some headache meds and I'll be out of your way. I'm also going to need to know where my partner is so we can start helping you all out with the patients. His name is Kevin Baker and he was the other paramedic in the ambulance wreck with me."

A voice from way above where a normal person should be responding from replied in careful tones "I am afraid that your friend did not survive. You have my sympathies. As for getting out of the way, you are in no condition. So if you will please lie back down and try to relax…"

Kevin. Oh God. Joe took a deep breath. She had given death notifications herself. She could handle this. There would be time for mourning later. "I see. I appreciate your concern but I still have a job to do. So if you could please tell me how I get to the casualty collection point so I can check in?" Hard as she tried she couldn't keep the single tear from falling down her cheek.

Ratchet noticed the tear and his spark felt for her. He was about to try offering some words of comfort when he heard some whispering behind his back.

"Dear Primus, minus the fact that she hasn't thrown anything at anyone or cursed anyone out, she sounds like the Hatchet!"

"Unless you are injured get out of my med bay now! You are not helping!"

Joe squinted against the lights as she glanced up looking for the owner of the voice. Joe felt her mouth open in surprise. Vague red blurs mixed in with mostly yellow blurs but it was the 2 blue blurs that _looked_ at her that made her gasp.

"I am assuming that you noticed that a few things are _off_ by now?" the tall blurry thing with blue eyes replied. "Hold on a moment, let me try something with your eyes."

Joe was frozen where she was. A bright light flashed before her eyes. More pain registered and she fell to her knees clutching both hands to her eyes. The pain receded and she opened her eyes peeking between her fingers. A pair of very large blue eyes regarded her from very close up. Joe's vision was still not perfect but she could most definitely see the large robot crouched down holding some device before her.

"Green then. I was not sure what color they were earlier when you were unconscious but I assumed as much. Red hair and green eyes seem to go hand and hand. The name is Ratchet by the way; I am the Chief Medical Officer here, welcome to the autobot base med bay.

Autobot. Those robots from Mission City! Joe stared wide eyed at the CMO autobot before her. "My name is Josephine, Joe for short. I was a paramedic…we were responding to reports of…just what the hell is going on here?!" She finally ended with a slightly panicked shout.

Ratchet raised an optic ridge and regarded the female human for a moment. "I will be more then happy to explain, once we have you back on the berth where you belong."

Ratchet made to pick Joe up but Joe was having none of that. She tried to make a run for it only to realize that her body was still very sore. She managed to make it a grand 5 paces before she stumbled landing on her injured arm. She yelled at the sharp pain and instinctively curled around the arm cradling it protectively.

"Hey! Now stop being stubborn. I didn't go through the trouble of taking care of you only to have you injure yourself further in my med bay or all places! Now will you please relax and return to your berth?" Ratchet snapped. He tried being nice with this human and now he found himself resorting to the kind of bullying required on fragging stubborn mechs like the Lamborghini twins.

Joe glared up at him. "I'll have you know that I am an experienced paramedic, a Lieutenant with my county's fire and rescue service, and am fully capable of taking care of myself thank you very much! You are not my chief and so you have no right to give me orders of any kind!"

Somewhere during this confrontation Joe had ended up standing in Ratchet's open palm glaring eyes meeting angry optics.

"Slagging stubborn aft femme!"

"Fucking burnt out toaster!"

"Half pint, half trained…"

"Loud mouthed, jackass…"

The exchanges continued much to the amusement of the crowd that had gathered to peak into Ratchet's office from the med bay, to include a very shocked Optimus Prime.

"I told you…it's a female human version of the Hatchet" whispered an awed Sideswipe.

"Give her a wrench and see if she throws it at Ratchet, then we'll know for sure" replied Sunstreaker.

Both Ratchet and Joe turned to the Lamborghini twins and shouted at the same time "shut up!!"

**- Ok this is my first time trying to write something like this...be gentle!!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 - Learning**

Despite the large battle the day before no autobot sparks were extinguished much to the relief of the CMO. There were however a large number of wounded. Most of the injuries were minor but with the numbers involved it was time consuming seeing to everyone. Ratchet had long since sent the last of the repaired autobots out of his med bay and was in the process of cleaning when his audio receptors detected a barely audible noise from his office. "Oh wonderful" he muttered sarcastically "it's awake again." He sighed and set down the cleaning solution before opening the door to his office. A component he had been working on at his desk the other day flew through the air and smacked him in the dead center of his forehead. "Ok now knock that off! I was trying to fix that you know?" he growled.

Joe smirked, "well it was the only item you had on your desk that I could throw that far." "You know if you'd just let me leave you wouldn't have to put up with this harassment."

"According to your own county's protocols any patient suspected of having a concussion is supposed to be observed for no less then 48 hours. And since you live alone with no one to watch you I get to have the oh so charming honor of babysitting you…Lieutenant."

Joe growled slightly at the way Ratchet threw her rank in her face. "What do _you_ know of our protocols? And how do you know I don't have someone to watch me?"

"The internet is my new friend" Ratchet said with a smug grin. "You really should be more careful with what information you humans just let float around out there. Although I did rather enjoy the pictures your colleagues posted on the internet from your fire department's last banquet. Tell me, exactly how much alcohol did you consume at that party before you decided it would be a good idea to let someone take a picture of you dancing on a table?"

"Low blow" Joe muttered. She silently made a promise to herself to chase down everyone at her fire house and terrorize every last one of them until all the pictures were retrieved. She turned away from Ratchet and walked back to where she was seated before the CMO's entrance.

Ratchet grinned as he realized that he had won this particular battle. Joe had won the last 2 and it was starting to grate on him. He rather enjoyed their little "fights" and despite having just met her, he found himself actually enjoying her company. It was not often that Ratchet found someone capable of standing up to him and holding their own in an all out duel. Even Prime walked small around the CMO when his temper flared.

Ratchet walked around to the other side of the desk to see what had drawn Joe away. He stared in disbelief as he saw several cybertronian datapads spread out before Joe. What really made his optics go wide was the fact that it seemed as though Joe was actually studying them! "Where did you get those and what are you doing with them?"

Joe looked up at him and innocently replied, "I took them from your desk since you decided to make me a prisoner here. And I am learning from them. You're a medic, you know just as well as I do that our education never ends. I saw an opportunity to learn about autobot anatomy and procedures so I took advantage of it. Isn't that kind of what you did to fix me up the other day? You accessed our internet and learned from our fire/rescue and medical sites."

Ratchet was taken back. Humans never ceased to amaze him. Here he was faced with an alien species (an organic one at that!) who shared the same ideals as he did. "Those datapads are in a cybertron language, how are you learning from them if you cannot read them?"

"Its tricky but the diagrams clear up a lot of the confusion. And despite the fact that you all are machines, I am seeing a lot of similarities with human anatomy. We have a heart beat, you have a spark pulse. We have blood, you have coolant and energon. We have arms and legs, you have…well most of you have arms or legs or something close enough to them."

Dumbfounded Ratchet took a seat behind the desk and stared at Joe. "You have to be the most interesting human I have encountered to date Joe. Please, tell me which information files you have not been able to understand. Perhaps I can explain them to you."

Joe blushed at the compliment. She dug a datapad out of the pile and sat down, "I'm ready when you are professor" she smiled.

Ratchet eagerly answered every question the human medic tossed his way. Eventually he switched to just reading the datapads out loud to her. This went on for some time until Ratchet noticed that Joe had fallen asleep. He cursed to himself knowing that he should of kept a closer eye on his patient. Her wounds were still very fresh and she still had a lot of recovering to do. A knock at his office door brought his optics up from the sleeping woman. Getting up from his desk as quietly as possible he keyed open the door and smiled at his best friend.

"Hey stranger, long time no see" Wheeljack said as he poked the CMO in the windshield.

"Keep your vocals down slagger" Ratchet whispered fiercely and indicated to the sleeping human on his desk.

Wheeljack blinked and his vocal indicators flashed a light lavender with embarrassment. "Sorry Ratch" he said quietly. "How is she?"

Ratchet shrugged "As well as can be expected I guess. The websites I have searched are rather vague on recovery times for human injuries. I assume it just varies from human to human and obviously based on the actual scenario at hand." He grabbed the blanket from the berth he had dragged in earlier and placed the cloth over the sleeping figure curled up on his desk. He offered her a small smile as he carefully managed to slide the datapad she was half laying on out from under her.

"Whats with the datapads?" Wheeljack asked as he joined the CMO next to the desk.

"She wanted to learn about the autobot version of her job so I was reading them to her. She is quite intelligent for a human. A very capable medic in her own right."

Wheeljack raised an optic ridge at his friend "You don't say. You setting up an apprenticeship then?" he joked.

Ratchet would of smacked his friend upside the head if he wasn't worried the noise might wake up Joe. "Don't you have something to blow up in your lab?" He walked over to the door leading to the med bay.

Wheeljack followed and gently closed the office door behind him. "Not everything I build blows up you know."

"No, just most of them. You have your own personal berth reserved just for you in the med bay right next to Sideswipe's and Sunstreaker's."

Wheeljack chuckled, voice indicators flashing "Ok so I've had a few setbacks in my attempt to make our lives a little better and help our cause. But at least my berth wasn't earned through failed jet judo attempts like those two hellions."

Ratchet grinned "Touche." He walked over to one of the equipment tables and started to wipe down the various tools. Despite his friendly banter with Wheeljack his processor was still working overtime trying to make sense of the current resident of his office. Ratchet was not easily surprised and yet this human had surprised him more then once. Not just the ability to stand up to him and toss back insults that could make even Ironhide stutter. But her desire to learn cybertronian "medicine" had shocked him to his metal frame.

Wheeljack watched Ratchet and grew concerned for his friend. He was beginning to think that the medic had forgotten he was there. Not to mention that the tool he was cleaning had been spotless for the last 10 minutes but he continued to wipe it down. Whatever was on his mind must have been really throwing him for a loop. "So, shall I go get Inferno? I figure that if anymore smoke pours out of your overworked processor it will only be a matter of time before you set off the smoke detectors anyways. Want to tell me whats on your mind?" Ratchet glanced at him and for a moment Wheeljack thought he was going to give him the usual "oh go blow something up" comment. But instead the medic leaned back on the table and for once actually spoke what was on his mind without having to have it dragged out of him.

Joe opened her eyes and for a moment had forgotten where she was. Aches and pains throughout her body gave her a quick reminder. Very carefully she stretched and bit back a few choice words at the stiffness and pain. She smiled down at the blanket that had fallen to her feet. Ratchet wasn't all that bad for an overbearing grouch of a robot medic. As if thinking his name had been a summons the CMO walked into the office.

"How are you feeling?" he asked with surprising concern as he walked to his desk/her bed.

It was amazing how much feeling could be expressed on the metal plates of these robots. "About how I should feel after having my ambulance shot out from under me." They had told her what happened the other day. That it had been a decepticon named Starscream who fired on Joe and her partner Kevin thinking they were an autobot. They were in the wrong place at the wrong time, and Kevin had paid the price. Sadness crossed Ratchet's face and Joe knew what he was thinking. She stopped him before he could say it. "I do not blame the autobots for what happened Ratchet. Kevin and I were doing our job responding to an emergency. I know the risks of my job just as well as you know the risks of yours."

Ratchet nodded and tried to put on a happier face. "You would of made a fine med bot."

"Oh God you're not going to get all sentimental on me now are you?"

Ratchet grinned "Fine then, you can just sit in here and I will go out for a drive by myself."

"Woah now, is the warden actually saying that I can step outside for a bit if I behave?"

"The _warden_ is saying that you seem to be in no danger from your injuries now and that you are well on your way to recovery _and_ that if you wanted a lift to your residence…"

"Oh hell yes! I need a shower and some real food like there is no tomorrow!"

"Well sorry about not being able to give you _real food_ your royal highness. All we had to offer was MRE's that the military had left behind when we were building the base. And I am glad you agree that you need a shower. My office is starting to smell a little…strange."

"Wise aft."

Ratchet couldn't help but bust out laughing at the use of the cybertronian insult from the human. "Fast learner. I'll make you an autobot medic yet. Now lets hit the road shall we?"


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 - Student**

Walking to the entrance of the base was a lengthy process as all the autobots encountered wished to inquire about Joe's health. At first Joe was a little put back. She had never really had too many people care about her in the past and here she had several dozen giant robots showing genuine concern for her. Ratchet watched with obvious amusement as she explained for what seemed the hundredth time that yes she was doing better and that no her injuries did not pain her much.

They had almost made it outside when they encountered Sunstreaker and Sideswipe.

"It's loose again" muttered Sunstreaker at seeing Joe.

"I told you, it's a _she_, not an _it_" replied Sideswipe. "How is the mini-Ratchet doin though? What's the score at now?"

Ratchet was about to ask what Sideswipe was referring to when Joe answered, "I've won 7 arguments; Ratchet has only managed to win 5. And I am doing much better. Apparently I am well enough to go play outside for a bit."

Ratchet smirked at the argument comment. "I said I'd give you a lift to your residence to clean up, not play. You still have a bone in your arm that is not fully operational, hence the splint. I suggest not _playing_ until it is healed."

Joe rolled her eyes then glanced at the twins. "Is he like this with you two when you get hurt?"

Sideswipe nodded answering "well it doesn't take long for us to heal, we just get fixed up. But yeah, we get the same kind of lectures."

Sunstreaker grinned "at least you don't get a wrench chucked at your head from across the med bay with the lectures. I've lost track of how often I've had to touch up my paint after a Ratchet lecture."

Joe turned back to a growling Ratchet and said in a flat voice "you throw a wrench at me and I will weld your ankles together while you recharge."

"Like you even know how to handle a welding torch. And you can't get to my recharge berth if you aren't let back into the base" Ratchet countered smugly.

"Why wouldn't she be let back to the base?" Sideswipe interrupted. "This is prime entertainment right here. I've never thought of doing that, welding a mech's ankles together."

Ratchet rubbed a hand across his face plates imagining the twins making good use of Joe's idea. "It's just that she is a human and we are in a war with the decepticons. We brought her here to help her during an emergency. We cannot endanger her further. Letting her wander in and out of our base, which could be the target of a decepticon attack at anytime, is a risk."

"But I thought you said…" Joe glared at Ratchet unable to finish the question. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Ratchet had been so kind to her (well except for the arguments, but those were fun!) and had even tolerated all her questions regarding her new found hobby of autobot anatomy/technology. Not 30 minutes ago he had been joking with her and telling her how great an autobot medic she'd make! What the hell changed his mind? It took a few moments to look through her anger clouded eyes and realize that the 3 mechs were now staring at her with obvious concern. Without a single word she stalked by them and outside of the base.

Joe squinted as she cleared the base, the setting sun doing a number on her still sensitive eyes. A quick look at the surrounding area to include where the sun was setting and the mountains off to her right told her she was further out from her home then she thought. With a sigh of stubborn determination she started walking off in the direction of her house.

"And just what do you think you are doing?" inquired Ratchet as he finally caught up with her.

"I am going home to clean up…as per you're your instructions" she replied stiffly.

"Look, Joe…" Ratchet started.

"No, I understand. I am a liability. A risk. I do not wish to endanger others with my presence."

"Alright now that is enough!" Ratchet snapped, his large hand slamming down in front of Joe. "You do realize that I am just trying to protect you? You have no idea what you have been brought into. You heard Sideswipe! With the exception of worse case scenario destruction or direct spark injury, we can repair ourselves. You are not so fortunate. If you were cybertronian your arm injury could have been repaired within 15 minutes instead of the…" Ratchet stared off into space for a moment obviously searching the internet for the answer "4-6 weeks for full repair. Look, I am sure you are a wonderful human medic. You also seem to have the intelligence and instinct to possibly become an autobot medic with the proper training. But the fact is that you are human, not an autobot. This is not your war."

"Then what was with all that back in your office?" Joe snarled back. "Why even bother tolerating my questions? Why teach me? I lost my partner to _your_ war. Kevin was all I had left! I have no family; he was like a brother to me! Didn't your precious Google search tell you that?! You…you and your autobots, you all took me in. I don't care if it was an emergency or not. I will not forget that, nor will I forget the debt that I owe you for saving me. The debt I owe Sideswipe for carrying me still pinned in that truck all the way back to base. The debt I owe Prowl for making the decision to have me brought to base. The debt I owe Optimus Prime for even _allowing_ me into his base." Joe realized that she was crying and probably had been doing so for sometime now. She scrubbed angrily at her eyes. "Frag you for making me cry, I never cry, this is twice in the past few days, slag" she finished with a whisper.

"Ever the fast learner, though it was our own fault for not watching our language around you" sighed Ratchet. "What do you suggest we do then?"

Still not meeting Ratchet's optics Joe whispered "I don't know."

Ratchet transformed into his alt mode and opened a door for Joe. "Well can I at least give you a ride to your residence or do you still insist on walking?"

Joe looked over at the open door and with slumped shoulders got in. She gave Ratchet her address and buckled herself in.

The ride was quiet and that worried Ratchet. He hadn't meant to hurt Joe's feelings. Truth be told he really did not know what to do. Not since his academy days had he felt this…uncertain about anything he did. The war had a funny way of forcing you to learn very quickly. Those who did not learn fast enough or were unable to adapt did not last long. Ratchet had learned, had adapted, and had earned his right to the title of Chief Medical Officer to the finest crew the autobots had ever constructed. And yet…here he was feeling very confused, uncertain, and about as sure of himself as a sparkling.

Eventually they pulled up to a wooded area just above the foothills of the mountains to the east of the autobots' base. A small cabin came into view and Ratchet was surprised to hear Joe tell him that this was her place. Joe quietly exited his cab and unlocked the cabin's front door. He transformed and examined his surroundings admiring the peace and quiet of this nearly untouched area.

"This place was my grandfather's before he died. It isn't much, but the quiet helps after some of the...harder work days. I'd invite you in but I think you would have a difficult time just walking through the front door" Joe said grinning at Ratchet over her shoulder.

Ratchet blinked and grinned a little in return. He was glad to see that some of Joe's humor had returned even if it was a weak attempt for her standards. "Well if the invite stands, I think I can manage something." The confusion on Joe's face was priceless and Ratchet couldn't stop his spreading grin. "Wheeljack and I have been working on these for awhile. We had already developed holograms for our alt modes to prevent panic at people seeing vehicles driving around by themselves. This seemed like the next best step."

Joe only just barely held back a yell at suddenly seeing an adult human male standing between herself and Ratchet. He was dressed in the same kind of paramedic uniform that she was and had short cut dark hair. He was of decent build and was slightly taller then herself. The only features that even remotely resembled the giant robot behind him were the smart ass grin he was sporting and the bright blue eyes. Joe stepped away from her front door and did a slow walk around of the human hologram. She stopped just in front of him and grinned poking at the brass pins on the lapel of his uniform. "According to this, I outrank you."

Ratchet smirked. The hologram blurred for a moment and his single brass bars became the several clustered brass bugles of a chief. "Better?" he asked.

Joe rolled her eyes and walked back to the house. "So are you able to come in or what? How far can you wander from your…um…real body? How _solid_ is that thing anyways? Can you feel?"

The hologram Ratchet followed her to the cabin. "Back to endless questions again, much better then the silent treatment. Anymore then 50 feet or so becomes stresses the systems, though we are working on increasing the distance. As for being solid or feeling, this is only a hologram. Sensors allow me to see and speak through the hologram but not much more."

Ratchet glanced around the inside of the small cabin and nodded with approval. Several medical certifications hung on the walls behind a desk as well as several awards and a burned up fire helmet. A couch, an entertainment center, and other small pieces of furniture made up the rest of the front room. He could make out a kitchen through one of the doors at the end of the room and what he assumed was her recharge room through another door.

"It won't take me too long to get cleaned up. Did you want to wait or did you need to return to base?" Joe asked from the door to her recharge room.

"I'll wait, I am not on shift for a few more hours" the hologram replied. Joe nodded and disappeared back into her room. Ratchet wandered around the main room reading the various framed certifications and awards hanging on the wall. He made his way to a large bookshelf and became frustrated at not being able to physically look through the various medical books. An idea occurred to him and he looked up the various titles on the internet and read them as he found them. He gave his head a little shake as he considered the fact that he was becoming addicted to the web.

Joe took a quick shower and got dressed as fast as she could not wanting to make her unique guest wait long. She peaked into the living room and smiled as she noticed Ratchet staring at her medical books. "Now you know how I felt when I found your datapads" she laughed as she stepped into the room.

Ratchet spun around at the sound of her voice and looked slightly embarrassed. "Like you said, a medic never stops learning" he replied with a smile. His smile slid into a frown and he looked down at the ground. "Joe, about what I said earlier. I've been thinking."

"Don't hurt yourself" Joe muttered.

"Ha ha, very funny. How serious are you about wanting to learn cybertronian medicine? Honestly." Ratchet glanced up at Joe when she didn't reply. She just stared at him. "Because if you really wanted to learn, well I am sure Optimus wouldn't really mind all that much if you stayed at the base from time to time to learn. As long as you didn't participate in any of the battles and mostly stuck to the med bay." Joe continued to just stand there and stare at him. It was really starting to make him nervous. "Ok feel free to say something at anytime." Joe suddenly put on the biggest smile Ratchet had ever seen. He was not aware humans could do that. How did her face not hurt from being split in half like that?

"You would be willing to teach me? You'd let me help?" Joe finally managed to get out.

"No, I am raising your hopes and then waiting for the opportune time to completely crush you." Ratchet said dripping with sarcasm. He quickly adopted a more serious expression, "It's been a long time since I have had an apprentice, I find that I actually miss teaching. I had a very promising young intern back on Cybertron before we left" Ratchet glanced up as if he could actually look for his apprentice among the stars above the ceiling. "We haven't heard from Red Alert in some time." The hologram looked back down at Joe with a smile "I wouldn't have asked you if I wasn't sure Joe." Ratchet watched with amusement as Joe did what could only be described as one of those ridiculous victory dances he had seen done after a goal was achieved in the American game of football. The twins loved the game though Ratchet could never understand the purpose of a sport that all but guaranteed injuries.

"You won't regret it! I promise I will do my best to learn everything you are willing to teach. And I won't get in the way at all. I promise" Joe rambled excitedly.

"Just so long as you remember who is the boss. As of now I am the teacher and you are the student. Got it?" Ratchet had a hard time trying to keep a serious face when Joe nodded back and saluted him. A tiny warning flashed in his processor when he noted that he had seen Sideswipe salute him like that once…right before he pulled one of his more terrifying pranks. What in the name of Primus had he gotten himself into?


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4 - Teacher**

The first day of official instruction was basic, a laying down of the rules, _Ratchet's rules_. And so help any mech…and now human…who dared break his rules. It was just one of those given things, like knowing the sun was going to rise in the morning. And so Ratchet found himself explaining these rules to a rather stubborn female wannabe autobot medic apprentice.

Ratchet's optics flashed angrily for a brief moment and attempted to explain the most recent rule again…using smaller words. "No, you cannot actually assist in your first phase of training. I know you have learned a lot but the first phase is a strictly hands off time period."

Joe put on what Ratchet could only assume was the human version of a pout face. "I don't see why not. Like you said, I've learned a lot already."

"Yes you have, but believe it or not there is more to our medicine that can be learned in a week, which is ironically about how long you have been aware of us short of misinformed TV news channels" Ratchet replied back sarcastically. "And let us not forget that you have only learned from datapads and from the talks we have had. Are you going to tell me that you managed to learn all of your human medicine from books, a couple of talks with experienced paramedics, _and _learned it all in a week?"

Joe sighed. "Ok fine. I see your point. So what exactly will I be doing in this _first phase_?"

"You will be studying some material I have translated for you, become familiar with the various tools of the trade, and some of the more basic procedures. And lets not forget the all important class of how to keep irritating, annoying, stubborn, slaggers from over running my med bay whether it be during an emergency or not. This particular class also has a side lecture on how to remove Lamborghinis." Ratchet glanced at her with a considering look for a moment "how is your throwing arm?"

"Well I did throw that thing at you in your office if you remember. But I don't think anyone is going to feel anything I chuck at them. I'm strong but not that strong" Joe replied with defeated shoulders.

"We'll figure something out" Ratchet said as he put his hand low to the ground for Joe to get on. He walked around the med bay pointing out all the various tools, supply areas, and machines. After the previous comment about Joe's strength and the fact that he was carrying the small female human around in his hand, Ratchet couldn't help but worry about how Joe was going to work with some of the equipment. All of the equipment and supplies were sized for cybertronian use, not human. Maybe Wheeljack could help come up with something. Some kind of 'bot arms perhaps? He chuckled to himself as a mental image of Wheeljack trying to create tiny human sized 'bot arms popped into his processor.

As if thinking his name had been a summons, Wheeljack limped into the lab trailing energon. Being quite experienced with Ratchet's temper Wheeljack spoke out before the medic could start in on him. "Yes, this is a result of one of my inventions, yes, I know I need to be more careful, yes, I do realize that I am going to clean up my own energon that I am getting all over your floor, and yes I realize that I am a fragging slaghead of a glitch for making your life that much more difficult. So now that the pleasantries are out of the way can I take a seat?"

Ratchet's jaw snapped shut with a click as Wheeljack had apparently taken what he was going to say and beaten him to it. Glaring at the engineer Ratchet just pointed to a repair berth and set Joe down on a nearby table where she could watch.

"Took all the fun out of it didn't he?" muttered Joe.

"Hmph. I guess I should be glad that he is able to do so, the last time he blew up his lab he was offline for three days" Ratchet sighed.

Wheeljack managed to get up onto the berth but froze looking over at Ratchet with puppy optics at the last comment. "I didn't blow up the lab this time. But we are going to have to fix the floor again" he added sheepishly.

"I don't want to know Wheeljack" Ratchet deadpanned.

As Ratchet worked on his best friend he explained everything he was doing and hoped that Joe was retaining some of the information. Even Wheeljack helped point out a few things, though most of his attention was on the rather sharp looking tools Ratchet was using on his leg. It took about two hours to repair the damage to Wheeljack and Ratchet was pleased to see that Joe's attention never wavered and had no qualms in asking about a hundred questions. She even began cleaning off the tools without being told to do so.

Wheeljack watched her with as much interest as Ratchet. "I'd don't think I've seen any of your apprentices in the past as eager as that girl" Wheeljack commented.

Ratchet nodded "this should be interesting to say the least. I do have some concerns about how she is going to work with some of the equipment though."

Wheeljack's optics dimmed slightly and rubbed his hand along the bottom of his mask in what Ratchet knew was his thinking pose. "I'll see what I can come up with. Perhaps some sort of null gravity unit could assist with the weight of the items. But that still leaves the general size of the equipment to deal with."

"Well if anyone can come up with a solution fit for a mad scientist, it's you" replied Ratchet.

Joe had finished cleaning the tools that she could actually lift and managed to get up onto Wheeljack's berth. "You know it's a good thing I am pretty damn good at climbing. Cause with your attention span I'd be stuck on that other table for the rest of the day."

"My attention span is just fine thank you very much. Perhaps I just thought you could use the exercise" Ratchet replied.

Joe rolled her eyes "yeah, right, I knew an alzheimer's patient who used to make the same claims." She grabbed a cloth and dipped it in cleaning solution and began to clean the dried energon off of Wheeljack's leg.

"Hey thanks!" Wheeljack said with a friendly flash of his voice indicators. He turned to Ratchet "can we keep her?"

Ratchet had started grumbling from the moment he looked up what alzheimer's was on the internet. "How come he gets the nice treatment and I get the smart aft comments?"

Joe glanced over at him with what was becoming her famous grin "you make an easier target boomerang head."

Both mechs looked at her with blank optics as they investigated the term boomerang on the net. About two seconds later Wheeljack burst out laughing while Ratchet narrowed his optics.

"Are you making fun of my chevron?" Ratchet asked dangerously.

"Are you making fun of my weight? You are the one who said I needed the exercise" Joe snapped back.

"Don't answer a question with a question."

"Don't ask stupid questions then."

"It wasn't a stupid question."

"Yes it was."

"No it wasn't."

"Wheeljack was it a stupid question?" Joe raised an eyebrow in the engineer's direction.

By this point Wheeljack was trying to stop laughing but ended up sounding like he was choking instead. With his voice indicators still flashing hysterically he finally managed a croaked "she does…have a point…Ratchet. You looked up…what a boomerang was just as…I did and we both know…the associated picture looks just like your…" Wheeljack fell backwards in full out laughter again unable to finish his sentence.

"Great. Just great. Dear Primus what did I do to deserve this? I have an insubordinate student and a lunatic mad scientist of a friend who likes to blow things up just to see what color smoke it makes!!" Ratchet said to the ceiling. "And speaking of blowing things up" Ratchet shoved a finger at Wheeljack's chestplate "get outta my med bay!! Don't you have a lab to repair?"

Wheeljack finally managed to get his giggles under control and gave the medic a hurt expression "awwww come on now Ratchet. You know we wouldn't tease if we didn't care."

Ratchet growled "out. Before you corrupt my apprentice anymore."

Joe and Wheeljack took on surprised looks.

"Corrupt me?" "Corrupt her?" they both managed to get out at the same time.

Joe shook her head. "Its ok Wheeljack, I'll catch up with you later. Maybe I'll show you how to make an MRE bomb or something."

"MRE bomb? Whats that?" Wheeljack asked with genuine curiousity.

"Oh no you don't" Ratchet said angrily as he grabbed a wrench. "Don't go giving him ideas. Wheeljack get going or else" he punctuated the 'or else' with a slight hefting of his wrench.

Wheeljack's voice indicators flashed with surprise and he jumped off the berth making for the door yelling "too bad the wrench isn't a boomerang, would be nice if you smacked yourself in the head with it once in awhile so _you _know how it feels!"

Ratchet's wrench slammed against the med bay doors not an astro second before Wheeljack cleared them.

Ratchet walked over to the thrown tool and picked it up. He stood back up and slowly turned his glare on the human female sitting on the repair berth with an innocent looking expression.

"What?" Joe asked as she shrugged her shoulders.

"You know it was bad enough with just Wheeljack and those pit spawned twins" Ratchet said. "With you added to the mix I am more convinced then ever that I will end up meeting with the Matrix before my time is due. But until then get your datapad out; I am going to make you take enough notes to wish you had never even heard of the word boomerang." An evil smile had worked its way onto Ratchet's faceplates as he approached the repair berth.

Joe sighed "frag."


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5 - Friends**

The second day went much like the first. Lessons and lectures went hand in hand with taunting and teasing. Ratchet enjoyed every moment of molding such a motivated and intelligent student; and though he would never admit it, he enjoyed the little games that he and Joe played as well. Which is why he felt more hurt then angry when his student did not appear at her scheduled time on the third day.

Ratchet paced around his med bay putting on the appearance of checking inventories, cleaning tools, and completing paperwork. But in truth his processor was glued to his internal chronometer. Joe should have been there over two hours ago. She should have been there taking notes and asking questions at a mile an astro second; all the while keeping score of who won which argument and who suffered defeat. But she wasn't there.

Wheeljack stopped by to visit but Ratchet listened to his friend chat away with only half an audio. The engineer must of noticed as he finally inquired about the topic they had both been avoiding. "So…where is she?"

"Who?" Ratchet replied.

"Megatron" Wheeljack deadpanned. "Who do you think I am talking about? Half the day is gone already, wasn't Joe supposed to be here this morning?"

"Joe? I don't know where she is. Where do humans normally go after they get bored with one thing and move on to another?" Ratchet snapped.

Wheeljack snorted in disbelief "that's a bunch of slag and you know it. You practically had to drag her out of the med bay the last two nights when her time was done. She is as bad as you are when it comes to seeing to her own rest and health…or lack there of that is." The engineer glanced towards the med bay doors optics full of concern. "Perhaps one of us should go look for her. Maybe something happened."

Ratchet had been trying to keep thoughts of concern out of his processor. As much as he hated the nickname, there was a reason he was known as Ratchet the Hatchet. He had a reputation to keep up. Ratchet schooled his face to a 'neutral I could care less' expression and attempted an annoyed sigh. "Oh fine, if it will make you feel better I will go check her cabin and see if she is there."

Wheeljack glanced back at the medic and raised an optic ridge. "So very kind of you to help keep _my_ worries at bay. I'll keep an eye on the med bay until you get back."

Ratchet chose to ignore the sarcasm and contacted the control center informing them that he was stepping out for awhile. As he walked through the base, at a controlled non-worried pace, he starting thought about all the things he would say to Joe when he found her. Most of the comments would consist of scolding and guilt trips, of that he was sure. But he wanted to know why she would do this to him. Ratchet blinked. Wait a click, 'to him?' Ratchet shook his head, he meant why she would do this to her training. He muttered to himself until he reached the base entrance.

Just as Ratchet stepped outside Joe pulled up next to the base in her jeep. Ratchet crossed his arms across his windshield and waited. Joe got out of her jeep and walked over to the angry medic. Ratchet frowned as he noted that Joe was dressed in her fire department's officer dress uniform. The uniform and cap were more suited for ceremonies and the such, not training. His frown grew as he also noticed that she was not wearing her arm splint.

"About fragging time you showed up" Ratchet growled. "Third day and already tossing our lessons aside not caring about the effort I've gone through to help you. I have half a mind to…" Ratchet cut himself off as Joe walked by him into the base completely ignoring his tirade. The medic stood frozen in shock for a few moments. No one had ever been able to just 'blow him off' like that before. Eventually he came to his senses and followed into the base, he was pretty sure he knew where she was going.

Wheeljack was helping Joe up onto a table when Ratchet entered the med bay. Joe winced as she pulled her dress coat off revealing her heavily bruised injured arm. Ratchet had walked over to stand beside the berth glaring down at her. She continued to ignore him as she placed her splint back on her arm. "I am sorry that I took the splint off. I couldn't wear it under the dress coat" she almost whispered at the unspoken question.

Wheeljack and Ratchet looked at each other for a brief moment in confusion. "So why wear the outfit then?" Wheeljack inquired as he glanced back at her.

"Today was Kevin's funeral. We all showed up in our dress uniforms to honor him. I am sorry I was late for training" Joe answered.

Wheeljack placed his hands on the repair berth and kneeled down to put his optics on a level with Joe's. "Joe, I am sorry for your loss. I am sure your participating in this ceremony honored your friend."

Joe placed her hand atop Wheeljack's and smiled weakly at him. "Thanks Wheeljack. I appreciate it."

Ratchet had shuttered his optics the instant Joe gave her explanation. He had been so caught up in the excitement of having an apprentice again that he had forgotten the incident that lead to getting the student. He remembered reading about humans' activities when dealing with deactivation, or death as they called it. The activities varied throughout the different parts of the world but most of them consisted of a gathering of friends and family in a time of mourning and comforting. Why he had never considered the fact that Joe's deceased partner might have such a ceremony was beyond him. Primus but he felt horrible.

Ratchet unshuttered his optics and walked to his office without a word and gently shut the door behind him. He sat down at his desk and placed his face in his hands. Horrible was not a strong enough word to describe both his actions and how he felt.

Joe glanced back at Wheeljack once Ratchet had shut himself into his office. "He really feels bad about this doesn't he? I was the one who forgot to tell him about the ceremony today."

"Grouch of a mech he may be, but he has a good spark. We were both worried about you" Wheeljack replied.

"It was my fault. I didn't mean to worry you guys. Short of Kevin, it's been a long time since I've really had anyone care about my welfare." Joe sighed heavily. "So do you think I should talk to him now, or give him some time."

Wheeljack pondered the question for a moment glancing at Ratchet's office door. "I say give him some time. He's probably retreated to _self pity mode_ and isn't likely to listen much at the moment anyways."

Joe absently rubbed at her injured arm and nodded.

Wheeljack stood up to his full height and tried to offer Joe a comforting smile. Well as comforting a smile as he could manage while wearing a mask. "I am going to grab some energon, would you like to join me in the recreation room or did you want to stay here?"

"I think I'll just wait here and get some studying in. He can't stay cooped up in his office forever. Thanks for the offer though, rain check?" Joe smiled.

"You got it" Wheeljack said as he made for the med bay doors. "I'll check back in later."

As soon as Wheeljack left, Joe climbed down from the table and made her way over to Ratchet's office door. She keyed the door open thankful that Ratchet had not thought to lock it. She found Ratchet sitting behind his desk with his head in his hands. She didn't even think he noticed the door opening or closing. Making her way over to the desk she managed to climb her way to the top and walked over to the brooding mech. She sat down in front of him and waited.

"It still amazes me how you keep managing to climb around in my med bay despite your splinted arm" Ratchet said between his fingers.

"I'm sorry I worried you" Joe said quietly. "You know 'Jack said I should probably wait and give you a little time before trying to chat with you. But I've never been known as a very patient person."

Ratchet pulled his hands away from his face and looked down at the human in front of him with a curious expression. "I thought I was supposed to be the one to apologize here, not you."

Joe shrugged "your actions were based off of my mistake and for that I apologize."

Ratchet managed a weak grin "that sounds like the sort of logic Prowl would come up with" he replied. "Can you forgive this glitched old mech for acting without hearing your side of the story first?"

Joe smiled. "No worries. So what gives with the mean mech act anyways? Obviously you care about your patients and your friends. Not to mention giving a damn about irritating tardy students who tend to throw respect out the window."

Ratchet grinned "who says it's all an act? And you aren't irritating all the time, just most of the time, and just when you are in student status. Outside of the classroom I'd rather call you friend."

"Awwww. Ratchet, I think you just had your very first Hallmark moment. We may need to hug now" Joe teased. "So _glitched old mech,_ how old are you anyways?" she asked while waiting for Ratchet to look up what Hallmark moment was on the net.

"Well the war has been going on for several million human years. I was around before the war, and that's all you're getting out of me" Ratchet said.

Joe rolled her eyes "yeah like that helps. Ok lets try approaching this from a different angle. How old would you be if you were human? Like equivalent age."

Ratchet's optic ridges shot up "human age?" He muttered as he attempted to figure the math on the improbable question. "Well it is difficult to figure seeing as how our life spans are so completely different. But if I had to guess I'd say…early to mid 40's?"

"Well ya need to stop acting like an 80 year old who's orderly hasn't changed his diaper in a week" Joe said with a huge grin. This was just too easy Joe thought to herself. Ratchet's so called famous moodiness had no chance against her wit.

Ratchet responded with a playful grin of his own "is that so?" He grabbed the back of Joe's shirt between his fingers before she could react. Joe was lifted into the air by her shirt and carried back into the med bay.

Wheeljack was just walking back into the med bay when he caught sight of Ratchet carrying Joe in from his office. What made him freeze in mid step was seeing Ratchet using one finger to tickle Joe who was dangling from the fingers of his other hand. Joe was struggling to kick at Ratchet and alternating between laughing loudly and screaming at him to stop. Ratchet was smiling and laughing as much as Joe was while he walked them further into the bay. Ratchet noticed Wheeljack and he quickly tried to hide his smile.

"Hey Wheeljack!" Joe yelled while still swinging from Ratchet's fingers. She yanked a thumb back in Ratchet's direction "I fixed him! So when can I expect my autobot medic degree?"

Wheeljack blinked his optics "what did you do to him, how did you do it, and can you teach me?"

"I wasn't broken" muttered Ratchet as he set Joe back down on a repair berth.

"Well busted or not, I assume that everything's been worked out from earlier?" Wheeljack asked.

"Yeah, we did the talk thing" Joe replied.

Wheeljack flashed his voice indicators happily "well good because I've got some news. That little issue you were worried about Ratchet, well I've got your solution. It's ready for testing on the uninjured arm if you want to give it a whirl."

Joe blinked in confusion as she realized the uninjured arm remark meant that they were referring to her. "Little issue? Did I miss something?"

"There were some concerns on how your strength and size were going to affect your ability to work with some of our tools, not to mention some of our patients" answered Ratchet.

Wheeljack nodded "well even with my help there are some patients that she is not going to be able to handle. Like Sunstreaker for example." And with that Wheeljack set a series of metallic cables, rods, and plating on the medical berth next to Joe.

Joe looked at the small pile of shiny metal next to her and tried to figure out how this was going to help. She picked it up and was surprised at how light it was. Turning it over in her hands she looked up at Wheeljack and smiled. "Ok, how do I do this?"

Wheeljack instructed Joe on how to fit the device onto her shoulder, arm, and wrist. Joe looked at her arm and blinked. The device looked like some sort of weird mix between a shoulder holster for a gun, a leg warmer for an arm, and a fingerless weightlifting glove; and all of it bright silver with hints of metallic blue.

"Cool…now what?" Joe inquired. She was able to freely move her arm as if she was just wearing another layer of clothing. There was no noise as she tested the metal bits and pieces.

"Well at the moment it does nothing except make your arm look more attractive to an autobot" joked Wheeljack.

Ratchet raised an optic ridge at Wheeljack's attempt at humor and gave him a shove. "Just tell her how to use it aft head."

"So much for the short lived good mood" Wheeljack muttered. "The device will act as a portable null gravity unit. This means that it will produce a sort of field around an object you touch and create an alternate gravity around that object. You are able to adjust the gravity within that field to make things heavier or in much more useful cases to you, make the item lighter."

Joe looked at her silver-blue arm in awe. "I can use this to help in the med bay?"

Ratchet nodded and gave her a small smile. He was more then pleased that Joe's first thought on getting such strength was to help in the med bay. "You will in time. Just because you can lift the tools now doesn't mean you are out of the first phase yet. You still have a lot to learn."

"Oh, but the drawbacks…" Wheeljack started.

"Drawbacks?" Ratchet interrupted. "I don't want her using it if there are side effects Wheeljack. No matter if it is useful or not, I will not have her harmed."

"I guess I should rephrase that to _possible_ drawbacks actually" Wheeljack said defensively. "Cybertronians have wire networks, sensors, and the basic machinery to be able to attach something like this to our programming. To make it _do_ as we wish so to speak. It is slightly more complicated in arranging such a thing in a human."

Joe frowned at the concept of attaching something to her _programming_ AKA her brain. "So how does it work then?"

"There are sensors spread throughout the inside layer having direct contact with your skin. They will assist a little. There is an additional step that will be required in order to make it fully operational though." Wheeljack glanced over at Ratchet with a slightly nervous expression.

"What additional step?" Ratchet asked suddenly wary of his friend's nervousness.

Joe noticed the exchange between the two mechs and became a little nervous herself.

Wheeljack pointed towards Joe's upper arm. "In that section of the device you will notice a slightly thicker ring that circles your upper arm. There are connections in there that will activate when you turn the device on. When those connections make contact you should have full control."

"Well that doesn't sound that bad" Joe said relaxing a little.

"Connections…exactly what do these connections make contact with when activated Wheeljack?" Ratchet asked.

"It is voice activated; set to her voice harmonics of course, with the command of 'initiate SL1. From there several thin needles will make contact with the median nerve in her arm" Wheeljack replied.

Ratchet snapped. "Are you out of your fraggin processor?! It pierces her arm? Her median nerve? Needles will pierce her arm _every time_ she wants to activate it? Oh I am sure her neuromuscular system is going to _love_ that!"

"Well it is the only thing I could come up with! Nothing else comes even remotely close to meeting the demands of what she would do in here! I weighed the dangers of it and they are at an absolute minimum!" Wheeljack snapped back.

Joe watched the two friends argue back and forth for awhile. Needles pierced into the main nerve that ran down her arm. Not her idea of a good time. As a medic in the human world she believed she was doing her part to help. After seeing what these beings went through; hearing tales of their war, their struggles, their heroic effort to maintain peace on their world and now her home. She wanted to be a part of it. She wanted to help. She owed them. And if a little pain once in awhile was what it cost her well then fuck it.

Joe forced herself to stand up straight. "Initiate SL1."

Despite the yelling between them, both mechs heard her say it. Heads whipped around in shock at the small human on the table before them. An instant later Joe's eyes slammed shut and she spasmed.

Ratchet was there in an instant with hands hovering near ready to catch her should she fall. "Joe?" he asked with barely restrained concern. "Joe talk to me."

Joe opened her eyes and looked up at Ratchet. "I've had worse."

"You're as glitched as he is!" Ratchet snapped half pointing at Wheeljack. "What were you thinking?! You do realize that this is an untested Wheeljack invention attached to your arm that you just turned on?"

Wheeljack kneeled down and got on eye level with Joe. "How do you feel?"

Joe looked down at her arm then walked to the other end of the repair berth. Wheeljack and Ratchet quietly watched her as she stopped in front of a tray of tools. With one final glance at her arm Joe bent down to pick up the largest of the tools.

At that moment the med bay doors opened slightly as Sideswipe poked his head in. "Hey Ratchet? Out of curiosity do you have any of that mega adhesive left that Wheeljack made last month? I don't need much, just enough to cover the doorframe to Prowl's office so Sunny and I can attach…."

BANG!!

Sideswipe dropped to the ground with a new dent on the side of his helm. He groaned and managed to get to his feet frowning at Ratchet. "So mean! You know all you had to do was say no. You are getting scary with that wrench of yours. I didn't even see you throw it that time."

Wheeljack and Ratchet turned their shocked stares from Sideswipe to Joe.

"You know you were right in your Lamborghini lecture Ratchet. The wrench technique is not only effective but liberating as well" Joe said.

Wheeljack turned back to Ratchet. "Test successful."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6 - Encounters**

Joe finished putting her dark red hair in a pony tail and looked around her room. The autobots were kind enough to arrange for a human sized quarters after finding her sleeping on Ratchet's desk for the sixth time. She glanced at her reflection in a mirror over the sink. She had gotten into the habit of wearing her paramedic workpants while here at the base training. She also wore a dark blue fire department t-shirt that was tucked neatly into her slim waist. She almost looked like she was on her way off to shift except for one minor detail. One of her t-shirt sleeves was ripped off. A thin red line of tiny dots circled her exposed upper arm.

Joe glanced down at the device on her bed; the culprit behind her slightly tender armband. She hated this part. She put the device over her exposed arm and made a few minor adjustments. Again Joe watched her reflection in the mirror. She forced herself to watch. "Initiate SL1." An instant later pain lanced through her arm from the device. Joe was happy to see that her reflection did nothing more then grimace slightly as her voice command activated the device's needles.

Ratchet still worried about the silver and blue metallic sleeve Wheeljack had made for her. The CMO constantly inquired about her arm. Actually that made both arms that he regularly asked about now. Joe smiled at that thought. It was nice to have someone worry once in awhile. And after training with the Hatchet for weeks now the medic had quickly become her best friend. Hefting her metal arm and flexing, Joe was convinced that it was still operating the way it was supposed to. She turned off the lights in her room and stepped out into the hallway.

Her room was right down the hall from the med bay so it was a short walk. A full blown smile crossed her face as she walked into the familiar grey interior of the autobot's med bay. Ratchet stood with his back to the door hunched over a repair berth. "Hey Ratchet." The medic absently waved behind him as he continued to work on the unfortunate mech on the repair berth. Joe frowned as she noted the red, black, and grey color scheme of the leg swinging from the repair berth. "Hello Sideswipe."

The mech raised his head into view from the repair berth and looked over at Joe with an amused smile. "What up Joe? And how are you doing this fine morning?"

"Don't give me that slag. This is what? Your third time in the med bay in the last week? You are lucky Ratchet even bothers to look at you not to mention repair your sorry aft" Joe replied as she climbed the repair berth.

"Awww now don't be like that. We both know my aft is anything but sorry" Sideswipe said with a cheeky grin.

"Stop moving around or I will weld you to the berth" Ratchet snapped.

Joe made it to the top of the repair berth and walked over to where Ratchet was working on Sideswipe's side. Around where the human stomach would be if Sideswipe was human was a fairly large hole with several fluids leaking out of it.

Ratchet glanced down at Joe and tried to hide a small smile at her. "What do you see?" He asked quietly.

Joe walked up to the wound and looked closer. "His primary energon converter has been punctured and that is where the majority of the leaking energon is coming from." She looked down at the pooling fluids and frowned. "He is also leaking coolant but I don't see an obvious source. He probably has a damaged coolant line a little further into the wound. No scorch marks around the injury or inside so he wasn't shot. Irregular puncture pattern but no other tears or dents into this portion of the chassis." Joe looked thoughtful for a moment as she ran over the clues in her head.

Ratchet continued to work on the injury trying to keep his smile hidden. Joe was spot on and he had no doubt that she was about to tell him exactly what he wanted to hear.

Suddenly Joe's face lit up in realization and she kicked Sideswipe in an undamaged part of his chassis. "This has jet judo written all over it! So what did you land on this time? You and your brother are out of your processors you know that?!"

Sideswipe attempted to give Joe a hurt puppy look and failed miserably as she just ended up kicking him again. "You act more like the Hatchet everyday. I landed on Sunstreaker actually" Sideswipe said. He raised his voice and shouted "he's my hero!!"

"Shut up!" came a reply from deeper within the med bay.

Joe looked up at Ratchet. "Sunstreaker I presume?"

Ratchet nodded irritably. "I had his repair berth moved to the back of the med bay in the hopes he would try to get some recharge in. That and I got tired of hearing about how the world was going to end now that his paintjob is _ruined_." Ratchet shook his head as he worked. "Apparently Sunstreaker attempted to catch his brother after Sideswipe got knocked off of Thundercracker by Starscream. Needless to say the attempt failed and they both crashed to the ground…again.

Sideswipe looked about to protest when the med bay lights suddenly went out. "Ok, I am still on the repair berth, I have witnesses, this is not my fault" Sideswipe's voice managed to carry into the darkness.

"Well don't blame me! The Hatchet still has me restrained to this fragging repair berth!" Sunstreaker yelled back from the darkness.

Joe could see the glowing optics of Ratchet and Sideswipe but not much else. "Emergency lights activate" Ratchet's voice sounded.

Joe blinked as dim red lights barely lit the med bay. "This wasn't an attack was it? I didn't hear any kind of warning, did you?" Joe asked.

Ratchet shook his head. "No it was probably Wheeljack again. I am going to weld his hands together for this one."

"You have been threatening to do a lot of welding to people lately" Joe said as she stepped onto Ratchet's offered hand.

"I can't help it. I'm still very much impressed with the new weld upgrades" Ratchet replied.

Joe raised an eyebrow "uh huh, and who upgraded them?"

"Wheeljack" Ratchet answered.

"And you don't see the irony in this?" Joe replied.

Ratchet blinked his optics as Joe's comment hit home. "That's besides the point. And off topic anyways. I am not going to wait all day for that glitched engineer to fix whatever he's blown up this time. There is an access point in the ceiling somewhere that can reroute energy into the med bay's primary."

Sideswipe and Joe looked up at the ceiling. "And how do you suggest we gain access to said access point?" Sideswipe asked.

Ratchet thought about it for a moment. "Well normally I'd track down one of the minibots and task them with it. But I don't have the patience to pin one of them down in what is most likely a pitch black base at the moment. I am thinking Joe can do it though."

Joe looked up at Ratchet from his palm. "Me? What am I doing now?"

"Its simple. All you need to do is get into the ceiling, find the access point, and switch 2 wires. It is that easy" Ratchet replied.

Joe looked up warily at the dimly lit red ceiling above her. "Alright, lets do this."

Ratchet open up a ceiling panel and lifted Joe up to the edge of it. She crawled over the ledge and stared down a long dark ventilation shaft. She dug out a small penlight from one of her cargo pockets. The small feeble light was just enough that she could make out basic shapes but that was it. She peeked down into the med bay at Ratchet. "Alright assuming I can find this access point, which 2 wires am I switching?"

"Blue wire and green wire with a red stripe. Same ports, just switch them around. Its so simple even Sideswipe could do it…if he could fit" Ratchet called back.

"Hey! If simple instructions is all I am able to comprehend it is probably from being hit upside the head by your wrench!" Sideswipe retorted from somewhere below the panel Joe was standing on.

Joe smiled and turned into the dark ventilation shaft. She walked for a bit swinging her penlight along the sides looking for the access point. Something sparked for a brief moment ahead of her. She walked over to it and realized that this must be the access point, but it looked as if some of the wires had been torn out. She found 2 stray wires that dangled from the panel and followed them with her penlight in an attempt to find their ends.

The light slid along the wires slowly until she found the ends wrapped around something black and red. Suddenly a pair of red optics onlined just slightly above her own eye level.

"Lady, I dunno who you are, and I don't care but you just made a huge mistake" replied the black and red mech before her. "Unfortunately for you I am not about to risk firing on you in here, so that means I get to take you out real old school like." He emphasized the last few words with knuckles cracking.

Oh shit, Joe thought to herself. Leave it to her to run into one of those decepticon mini spies she had heard about. He must have been snooping around up here and got some of the access point wires tangled around his leg. Joe quickly ducked down as the mech reached for her. She grabbed the tangled wires wrapped around his leg with her enhanced hand and yanked them back hard enough to make the spy fall backwards with a loud crash.

Ratchet looked up sharply at the sound of metal crashing in the ceiling above. Sideswipe was trying to sit up off the berth without hunching over.

"Whats goin on?" Sideswipe asked.

Ratchet shook his head and suddenly had a bad feeling in his spark. "Joe? Joe are you alright? Whats going on up there?"

Joe had tried to make a run for it once the decepticon went down. She could hear Ratchet calling to her from the ceiling panel she climbed up through. She made it about halfway when a pair of metal arms wrapped around her torso from behind. She screamed as the mech tightened his arms like a vice.

Ratchet jumped as he heard Joe's scream. "Help me!" he snapped at Sideswipe who had managed to pull out a rifle. They shoved a repair berth under the removed ceiling panel and Ratchet climbed onto it. Sideswipe handed the CMO his rifle then went to free his brother to enlist his help.

Ratchet carefully peered up into the dark ventilation shaft. He could hear shuffling and metal scraping. When he was sure he had the sound pinpointed he shined a light in it's direction. To Ratchet's despair there stood Frenzy with both arms wrapped around Joe's torso crushing her.

Frenzy snarled as Ratchet's light shined on him. He quickly moved one of his arms from Joe's torso to around her neck. "Don't even think about it autobot."

Ratchet could see Sideswipe and Sunstreaker approach beneath him. He signaled to them and pointed to the approximate location of Joe and Frenzy. The Lamborghini twins nodded and quietly moved into position.

Ratchet glared at the cassetticon holding Joe hostage. "Release the human Frenzy." He purposely referred to Joe as human and tried to show as little emotion as possible. No need to let Frenzy know that Joe was more then just another human.

"Eat slag medic" Frenzy snapped back. "You'll get the fleshy back once I am in the clear and not an astro second before."

Frenzy's grip on Joe's neck was starting to make her vision turn black. Her mind was running a mile a minute. She had to get out of this and soon before she lost consciousness. She had no doubt that this guy meant business and despite what he told Ratchet, he had no intention of just letting her go. She was smarter then this damnit. She had experience. "I'll be damned if I am made to be some Pit spawned maiden in distress!" she thought.

Ratchet's spark sank painfully as Joe suddenly went limp in Frenzy's arms. "Let her go! You are free to leave! You have my word!"

Frenzy grinned and started to walk backwards dragging Joe along with him. He reached the intersection at the end just barely in view of Ratchet. He adjusted his grip on Joe's neck to a different angle.

Ratchet stared in horror as he realized what Frenzy was about to do. From that grip and angle it would take absolutely no effort to snap Joe's neck. He couldn't help the gut wrenching scream of "NO!" that escaped his lips.

Joe's metallic arm swung around at that moment wrenching around the back of Frenzy's neck. She flipped him forward and slammed the mech around her body into the ventilation shaft floor in front of her. She raised her bent arm and mentally configured the arm to increase the gravity field to that of a heavier setting. She slammed her elbow down onto Frenzy's chest with all the force she could muster. Frenzy's chest crunched inwards and the force shattered the paneling beneath them sending them crashing into the med bay.

Sideswipe and Sunstreaker both tensed at Ratchet's shout. Not 2 astro seconds later the ceiling panel above them shattered. Sideswipe jumped and managed to just catch Joe as she fell through while Sunstreaker ripped Frenzy out of the air and pinned the small mech onto a repair berth.

Ratchet jumped down to the floor and ran over to the twins.

"She didn't leave me much to play with" Sunstreaker muttered as he released his grip from the offlined cassetticon.

Ratchet could care less about the stasis locked decepticon. He nervously approached Sideswipe and released all the air from his vents in a cybertronian sigh as he saw Joe sitting in the Lamborghini's palm. Her breathing was slightly labored as if it was painful to breath and she was holding a shaking hand to her throat.

"Are you alright Joe?" Ratchet asked full of concern as Sideswipe gently transferred the human to the CMO's hands. He could care less if the twins heard him like this right now. He had all the time in the world to correct that. But he had to know if Joe was ok _now_.

Joe laid down in fetal position in Ratchet's hands and tried to catch her breath. Her chest hurt and her neck was extremely tender but she didn't think there were any serious injuries. One of Ratchet's fingers gently rolled her onto her back and she looked up into bright blue optics that somehow managed to look frightened beyond belief. She smiled up at him and the worried expression before her melted away.

"You need to stop worrying me like that" Ratchet said quietly.

Joe shrugged painfully "sorry. Next time I'll take a wrench with me."

The lights finally brightened to their normal fluorescence and all the machines that had turned off to preserve energy began to come back online. The twins returned to their repair berths, though Sunstreaker took one next to his brother rather then his original one. The unconscious decepticon had already been restrained onto one of the other berths.

Ratchet walked over to glare down at the offline mech. He opened a comm. Line to Prowl requesting his presence in the med lab to pick up their guest.

Ratchet had returned to working on Sideswipe when Prowl entered the med bay with Jazz and Ironhide in tow. The 2IC looked around and raised an optic ridge at the missing ceiling panels. "You reported an unexpected guest?"

Ratchet nodded not looking up from his work. "Joe, I know you are proud of your catch but you are going to have to hand him over to the babysitters now" he called out.

Prowl cocked his head in confusion when he heard Ironhide's drawl next to him. "Well I'll be" the weapon's specialist chuckled.

Prowl and Jazz looked over to what Ironhide was referring to and blue optics and visor both blinked in surprise. Ratchet's human apprentice had Frenzy in restraints on one of the repair berths. She had the offlined mech's chassis opened up and appeared to be…_fixing_ him!

Joe glanced up at the new arrivals as they approached. She stood up straight and offered a sharp autobot salute to Prowl. "Prisoner will be ready for transfer momentarily sir."

Jazz nearly fell backwards as he burst into laughter and even Prowl managed a small smile. Ironhide kneeled down before the human and looked at her curiously. "You caught him?" he asked. Joe nodded. "You did that to him?" he asked as he pointed to the damaged bot. Joe grinned and nodded again.

Ironhide stood up with a grin of his own. "I think we got ourselves a new autobot. Someone get the little lady a gun!"


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7 - Wagers**

Joe frowned at her arms as she walked to the med bay. One arm was metallic except for her fingers poking through the makeshift glove at the end. The other looked pale and a bit small due to wearing her splint for so long. She wondered how long she was going to have to spend at the gym to get her muscles evened out again. At least she had finally been able to take the damn splint off for good and had been cleared for duty.

Joe sighed sadly. It would feel good to be riding her ambulance again but it would mean cutting down her studies with Ratchet. Still, its not like she could just quit her job and become a fulltime student to the autobots. She chuckled at that thought.

She walked into the med bay and winced at the sight of Prowl. The tactician was hovering over a grumbling Ratchet who was seated next to one of the repair berths using it as a temporary desk. "Looks like Prowl finally caught up with him about his late paperwork" she said aloud.

"Oh you have no idea kitty cat" came a reply off to her left.

Joe glanced over towards the owner of the voice and smiled at the mech lying on his side on a repair berth. "Hey Jazz, what happened to you?" she asked. She truly liked the black and white saboteur. It was really hard not to. He was one of the most charismatic individuals Joe had ever met. The fact that he had adopted a New Orleans type accent just added to his personality.

"Oh ya know me. I invited Soundwave to dance an I guess he didn't like bein shown up on the dance floor. Cheap shot 'o his blew out my audios" Jazz replied.

Joe crawled up onto his repair berth and walked up closer to Jazz's head. "Your audios? Can you even hear me?"

Jazz gave her a winning smile. "Not a word. I'm havin a really fun time readin those pretty lips 'o yers though.

Joe grinned at Jazz and gave his shoulder a nudge. "Flirt. Well I must say I am impressed. I wouldn't of thought of reading lips." A sudden thought occurred to Joe that made her frown. "So, no sound and no music?" Joe was well aware of the porche's love for music. They had had several discussions on it before. To be without music was probably near torture for him.

Jazz's smile slipped away and was replaced with a miserable looking expression. If Joe hadn't of known that cybertronians were incapable of producing tears she would of assumed Jazz was on the verge of pouring out Niagra Falls.

Joe had an idea. "Have you been fitted with a human data port or anything like that yet?"

Jazz raised an optic ridge. "Of course, why?"

"I'll be right back" she replied as she climbed down from the berth.

Joe ran back to her room and dug through her backpack until she found what she was looking for. With a smile she ran back to the med bay and climbed back up to Jazz. "Ok I want to try something. I need you to trust me."

Jazz frowned slightly. "No offense kitten but yer askin something mighty high of a special ops guru." Jazz just stared at Joe for a moment through that ice blue visor of his. Finally he nodded "alright, what do you need me to do?"

"Where is this human data port" she asked. Jazz opened a small panel on his forearm and brought it to rest next to Joe.

Jazz watched as Joe produced a small black device and plugged it into the port in his arm. A message flashed across his visor telling him that a mass storage device had been introduced. His optic ridges flew up as he realized what was contained on the device. "Holy Primus" he breathed. "You have more music on here than…" he cut himself off as he accessed some of the music and could hear it, actually hear it, from within his processor without the use of his audios since it was hooked up directly to his system.

"Jazz my friend, welcome to the wonderful world of the Zune." Joe said with a big smile.

"I think I'm in love" Jazz smiled back.

"Well I'm glad you are in a better mood. I wish I could fix your audios but I'm afraid that that is a little beyond what I am capable of yet." Joe sighed and looked over at Ratchet and Prowl. "Now I just gotta get rid of Prowl so I can pester Ratchet for some lessons."

Jazz chuckled "good luck on that. I heard Ratchet was pretty far back on the paperwork biz. Prowl is a real nazi when it comes to that stuff. He's likely to shadow that poor medic all day till he gets his paperwork up to par."

"So you're saying I'll have a hard time chasing away Prowl then?" Joe asked.

"No" Jazz smirked "I'm not sayin it'll be hard for ya, I'm sayin you _can't_ do it."

"That a bet?" Joe asked.

Jazz pushed himself up on one elbow and looked down at Joe with an amused look. "Oh a gamblin' girl. I'm intrigued. So how you wanna do this?"

Joe thought about it for a moment. "I can't really think of anything I want at the moment so lets just say if I win you owe me a favor. It you win you can keep that Zune."

"Almost don't seem fair. But deal. Have fun getting him to leave" Jazz grinned.

"I didn't say I was going to get him to leave. I said I was going to chase him out" Joe replied before she turned to climb back down the berth.

Jazz increased the energy flow to his visor and increased magnification. He wouldn't miss this for all the high grade on cybertron. He grinned as he also turned on a small recording device. Maybe he'd be able to hear by the time he replayed this in the rec room later.

Joe nearly skipped over to where the tactician and the medic were pouring over datapads. She lightly tapped on Ratchet's leg and put on her best innocent little school girl look.

Ratchet looked down at her and started to smile but it faltered when he glanced over his shoulder at Prowl. "I'm sorry Joe I don't know how much training we can get in today. Apparently I am under house arrest until I get some paperwork done" Ratchet nearly growled.

Prowl glanced over at them. "Your role as CMO has certain responsibilities Ratchet. I am sure Ms. Josephine will not mind waiting. From what I understand she is an officer as well and can appreciate our situation."

Joe nodded happily. "I completely understand sir. I was just coming over to inform Ratchet that Jazz was requesting his assistance on the repair berth."

Both mechs looked back at Jazz's berth where Jazz was striking his best 'pity the hurt drama queen' pose. Ratchet sighed and got up to walk over and see what Jazz wanted.

"I've got my hands full of paperwork Jazz. I told you I can't repair your audios until Wheeljack fabricates the parts I need" Ratchet grumbled.

Jazz blinked his visor at him. "Oh I'm doin ok. Just chill here a moment an enjoy the show. But pretend like yer doin something so Prowl won't get suspicious."

Ratchet's optic ridges rose in alarm. He barely glanced over his shoulder towards Joe and Prowl. "What are you two doing?" he whispered fiercely. "If Prowl kicks my apprentice out of the base for this I am going to do re-program you into a toaster."

"A zune would be better" Jazz joked then proceeded to explain the bet to Ratchet.

Ratchet was quiet for a moment then said "are you still accepting wagers on this bet or is it closed at this point?"

Jazz looked at Ratchet in surprise. "What did you have in mind?"

"I've got 2 containers of high grade that says Joe can do it" Ratchet replied.

Jazz grinned "you're on."

Both mechs settled into silence and watched the show.

Prowl had returned his attention to his datapad when Ratchet walked away to check on Jazz. Joe looked up at him and thought about how to get this started. Coming to a decision she walked over to the repair berth they had been using as a desk and pretended to struggle climbing it.

"Excuse me sir?" she piped up to Prowl.

Prowl looked down at her.

"I am sorry to interrupt sir, but could you help me up to the table? My arm is still injured so I cannot climb as well" Joe asked innocently.

Prowl cocked his head at the human for a brief moment then kneeled low and offered his hand to her. Joe climbed on and Prowl lifted her onto the table. He went to return to his datapad.

"Excuse me sir?" Joe piped up yet again.

Prowl glanced over to her "yes?"

Joe put on a concerned look. "I was wondering. Do you have any idea how long Ratchet will be in completing his duties?"

"I am sure I do not know Ms. Josephine. Ratchet has been neglecting this for sometime" Prowl replied. "Was there something you needed?"

Joe blinked "well sir, I've been studying very hard and I believe that I have successfully memorized everything that has been given to me so far. But I am having difficulty with something and was hoping that I could get some clarification." Joe hated sounding like a suck up teacher's pet.

Prowl nodded "I am sure Ratchet is pleased that you are putting forth so much effort. Autobot medicine is not my primary or even secondary programming but I will try to answer your question if you'd like."

Hook, line, and sinker Joe thought to herself. This was almost no challenge at all. But then again she was at the hard part now. Joe took a deep breath and repeated to herself 'must not laugh, must not laugh, must not laugh' in a mental mantra. "Sir I was wondering if you could tell me the purpose of the interface cable and exactly what interfacing entails, what it consists of so to speak. I have seen some reference to it but not much detail."

Prowl's face was in short…priceless.

A small sound came from the direction of Jazz's repair berth. Joe caught sight of Ratchet and Jazz just beyond Prowl. Jazz was biting his hand in an attempt to keep from laughing out loud. Ratchet had his head bent low in an attempt to cover his laugh while looking like he was writing notes. His shaking shoulders would give him away though if Prowl turned around. Slag heads. They were going to get her caught.

Prowl finally managed to get his vocalizers to function. "You wish to know what a…a…"

"Interface cables" Joe answered innocently. "And interfacing."

Prowl blinked and looked around a moment in a rather hunted 'un-Prowl like way.' "Yes, well, on that subject…" Prowl's door wings twitched nervously. He took a deep breath and attempted to collect himself. "Interfacing cables are how a cybertronian can conduct certain kinds of data transfers between themselves and another" he managed to get out in a rush.

Joe nodded and continued to look up at Prowl obviously expecting more.

Prowl's wings twitched again. "Ah, what exactly has your reference material already told you?"

Joe let out a dramatic sigh "not much. But they did hint at something more emotional then just a simple data transfer. Can you elaborate?"

Prowl's optic ridges seemed to be trying to crawl up into his helm as he mouthed the word 'elaborate' silently. He cleared his vocals "um, well the use of interfacing cables for the transfer is usually between cybertronians in a state of…that is to say ah…emotional…and physical…"

"I am sorry sir, I am not attempting to appear dense or difficult but I am just not sure what you are getting at" Joe said meekly. "The concept of the interfacing cable is to interface, share data, between two cybertronians in an emotional and physical _act_?"

Prowl was fidgeting with his datapad by this point and his wings were twitching non stop. "Yes."

Joe gasped. "Well that sounds like sex!" she all but shouted in mock surprise.

Ratchet was leaning heavily on Jazz's repair berth to keep from falling over. Both of them were laughing hysterically and both had obviously, and wisely, muted their vocals.

Prowl shifted his feet "yes, I guess you could say it is like what you humans call sex."

Any day now Prowl. I know this has gotta be freaking you out. Just give up. Go back to your office where you are safe from crazy embarrassing humans and their questions. Time for the finale. "How is it done?"

Prowl stood silently staring down at Joe.

"Do you partake in a form of foreplay as well? Is it just data that is transferred?" Joe asked. She took a small step towards Prowl.

Prowl took a small step back clutching his datapad to his chest like a shield.

"Is it only two cybertronians involved in this act or do several partake at the same time?" she asked as she took another step forward.

Prowl took another step back and stumbled slightly as he backed into another repair berth. He looked at the berth in shock and then looked back at Joe who blinked innocently.

Joe opened her mouth as if to ask another question but was cut off by Prowl raising his hands.

"Uh I am very sorry Ms. Josephine but I believe I am wanted in the control center. I am sure Ratchet can assist you with any further inquiries." And out the doors he went.

"Bye bye" Joe waved at the closing med bay doors.

Ratchet finally fell to the floor unable to control his laughing. Jazz unmuted his vocals filling the med bay with laughter.

"Oh Primus girl! I did not see that one comin. Did you see the look on his face?!" Jazz managed to get out after struggling to control his giggles.

Ratchet pulled himself back up and leaned back on the repair berth a wide smile still on his face. "Oh Primus please tell me you recorded that Jazz."

"But of course" Jazz replied.

Joe sat down on the edge of the repair berth and was swinging her legs happily while watching the other two mechs chat away about her performance.

Ratchet gave a heavy sigh. "Its been ages since I've laughed that hard. Jazz you owe me two high grades." He glanced over at Joe and suddenly his face took on a confused expression. "Wait a click. Which reference material had interfacing in it?! I don't remember giving you anything like that!"

Joe put her game face back on blinking innocently at the two mechs. "Wheeljack."


	8. Chapter 8

_Alright this is just a collection of side stories within the Doctors and Patients fic. I basically just wanted to show how Joe interacts with some of the other Autobots._

**Cliffjumper/Wheeljack/Sunstreaker/Sideswipe **

Joe had finally let Wheeljack talk her into visiting the rec room. Wheeljack chatted happily over his cube of energon while Joe poured herself another cup of coffee from the thermos she brought with her. Joe glanced around the room and smiled at the affect humans had obviously had on the autobots; the large TV with couches surrounding it being the most obvious. Other then that it was a typical gathering place. Tables and chairs took up the majority of the space while the far wall contained energon dispensers.

Wheeljack was just finishing his explanation of how they were able to bring Jazz back online after the Mission City battle when Cliffjumper walked in. He smirked when he saw Joe sitting on one of the tables next to Wheeljack.

"Why is _that_ in _here_? Cliffjumper said pointing at Joe. "Its bad enough that you and Ratchet let it run around loose in the med bay."

Wheeljack's optic ridges lowered and Joe imagined that he was frowning beneath his mask. Joe knew she was going to run into this eventually. It is not possible to keep everyone happy and the chances of running into someone who didn't approve of her presence was inevitable.

"I heard she even tore up the ceiling in the med bay" Cliffjumper smirked.

Wheeljack was most definitely glaring at the red minibot now. "Alright now that's enough. It was only one ceiling panel. And it was broke when Joe took down Frenzy single handed. When was the last time you managed to take out a decepticon bigger then you?"

"Wheekjack don't. He's not worth it. I can…" Joe started.

"Hey I've earned my right to be here. Its gonna take more then accidentally pushing a cassetticon through a ceiling panel to impress me" Cliffjumper replied.

Wheeljack started to stand up but Joe stopped him. "No Wheeljack. I can fight my own battles. If you do it for me, this is not going to end." She smiled up at him "I'm a big girl."

Wheeljack looked at her doubtfully but finally nodded. "I should get back to the lab anyways." He glanced over at the minibot who had walked over to the energon dispensers. "You sure you're gonna be ok?"

"Positive" Joe replied. "I'll catch up with you later, ok?"

Wheeljack flashed his voice indicators happily "sure thing." And with that he left the rec room.

As soon as Wheeljack cleared the doors Joe turned back towards Cliffjumper and set her jaw angrily.

Cliffjumper had finished his energon and turned to leave the rec room but stopped suddenly when he realized the human female was standing in front of him. "And what do you want?" he snapped.

Joe grinned and adjusted her metallic arm settings.

Sideswipe glanced over at his brother "so that's how the plan is gonna roll, got it?"

Sunstreaker nodded "hopefully he is alone. If there are witnesses we will have to wait. I don't want to spend the night in the brig again."

Sideswipe nodded in agreement as he opened the door to the rec room.

They looked around and were disappointed that their sought quarry was not evident. The room seemed to be empty except for Ratchet's apprentice sitting on one of the tables drinking from a cup and reading a datapad.

"Well this was a waste of time" Sunstreaker muttered.

Sideswipe walked over to Joe's table and smiled. "Heya Joe, have you by chance seen Cliffjumper? I'm not sure if you've met him yet. He is red, kinda looks a little like Bumblebee, has a mouth on him that makes you want to weld it shut."

Joe calmly looked up from her datapad. "Yeah, I think I know the guy you are talking about. We had a minor disagreement earlier."

Sideswipe frowned slightly. "Well we were gonna make him 'uncomfortable' for awhile if that makes you feel any better."

Joe took a sip from her coffee "nah, its ok, I already handled it."

Sideswipe blinked in confusion "right, handled, ok so do you know where he went?"

Joe nodded and went back to her datapad. Sideswipe looked like he was about to ask again when she pointed up.

Sideswipe and Sunstreaker looked up and gaped at what looked back. Cliffjumper was hanging upside down from the ceiling. He appeared to be tied up with cables and had what looked like several layers of duct tape wrapped around his mouth. The minibot glared angrily and wriggled in a failed attempt to free himself.

Sunstreaker and Sideswipe looked at each other with shocked expressions.

_How in the name of Primus did she get him up there?" _Sideswipe asked over the shared link with his twin.

Sunstreaker shook his head _"no idea. Where did she get the cables?"_

**Ironhide/Captain Lennox/Bluestreak**

The sun was just peaking over the mountains when Ironhide approached the autobot firing range. The sky was bright blue and clear, there was a tiny breeze, and the air still carried a slight chill. Ironhide's spark flashed in anticipation; it was the perfect setting for blowing shit up.

Ironhide pulled up to the range followed closely by Bluestreak. Both opened up their doors to let their passengers out. Joe stepped out from Bluestreak and patted his hood thanking him for the ride. He transformed to his 'bot mode and smiled down at her. Captain Lennox jumped down from Ironhide and looked over at the red headed female doubtfully.

"You sure about this 'Hide?" he asked the weapon's specialist.

Ironhide transformed and looked over to the female human. "Positive Will. She is tougher then she looks. From what Ratchet described and what I've been able to look up on the net, she's had some training of some sort."

Lennox shrugged his shoulders and walked over to where Bluestreak and Joe were talking. He tried to size up the paramedic but just couldn't get a handle on her. Apparently she had taken down one of the cassetticons in a ventilation shaft with a move described as 'military or martial arts like in nature.' She didn't look like some of the more 'butch' women he had worked with in the military. Though that wasn't entirely fair he admitted to himself. He had met some surprising women who could handle themselves in a fight.

Joe had the attitude to match her hair, of that he was certain. He had seen her go at it with Ratchet and hold her own. She was pretty easy on the eyes too. And though it was hard to tell with her current clothing, she gave the impression of having a nice body; athletic. Not a spot of make up that he could tell; a tomboy perhaps?

Joe smiled happily as Ironhide and Captain Lennox approached. "Thanks again for inviting me out for this. I've been looking forward to it since Ironhide mentioned giving me a gun."

Ironhide grinned. "You didn't need a gun to take out that annoyin slag heap of a cassetticon."

The 4 of them wandered over to a pair of tables set uprange from several targets set against a reinforced canyon wall. Bluestreak set down a large case and opened it up while Lennox walked over. Lennox pulled out several different kinds of rifles and handguns and set them on the table. Joe watched with interest from the side.

Lennox set several boxes of ammunition on the end of the table and looked over at Joe. "Alright, pick one to start with. Depending on how the morning goes we might try out some of the autobot hybrid versions of these babies."

Joe nodded and walked along the table looking at the weapons display. Finally she stopped in front of the modified M-4 with the M-203 grenade launcher attached. "You have ammo for the 203 too, or just the 4?" she asked Lennox.

Lennox blinked in surprise. "Uh, yeah. Check the ammo can on the far left." He made brief eye contact with Ironhide who just smiled.

Joe started humming to herself as she easily handled her chosen weapon and began a rather thorough inspection. Once satisfied that her gun wasn't going to blow up in her face she began loading ammunition into a magazine. She slapped the magazine in place and loaded a grenade into the launcher. She looked up and noticed that no one else was getting their weapons ready. "What?" she asked in confusion.

Bluestreak broke the silence. "Well she certainly looks like she knows what she's doing. She wouldn't have gotten this far if she didn't. Because it obviously takes training to do all the steps without missing anything. And she checked everything and didn't miss any of the steps. And she was very thorough and handled everything with familiarity and so she must have experience. At least a little, enough to know what she's doing. And…"

"Shut up Bluestreak" both Ironhide and Lennox said at the same time with a practiced air.

"So which branch?" Lennox asked.

Joe frowned. "Are you telling me that you were testing me to find out if I had some sort of military background?" She sighed and shook her head. "_Males_. Is there any particular reason as to why you couldn't just _ask?_"

All 3 males shuffled their feet and looked around with embarrassment.

Joe smirked and aimed her gun downrange. "Range going hot!" she yelled as she flipped the safety off her M-4. She emptied the magazine at one of the targets then switched to the M-203 portion of her weapon. She aimed at one of the other targets and fired a grenade from the launcher. With one target riddled with center mass holes and the other target still smoldering from the grenade she turned to face the males again. "1st Lieutenant, Army reserve, activated twice, deployed to Iraq twice, any more questions?"

All 3 quickly shook their heads.

Joe nodded and made her way back to the tables.

Bluestreak blinked. "Wow."

Lennox and Ironhide looked over at Bluestreak. "That's the shortest sentence I've seen come outta that guy since I met him" Lennox said with a shocked expression.

Ironhide shook his head and chuckled. He returned his attention to Joe who was now disassembling an M-9 handgun. "There's just something bout a female who can handle guns that just warms the spark." He raised his voice as he walked towards the tables "Hey Joe! Hold up darlin', let me show you some real guns! Check these cannons out!"

**Sideswipe**

Sideswipe was bored, and that was never a good thing. He hated it when his brother got sent out on patrol and he didn't. He sighed heavily and pushed an energon cube around the table with his finger. He looked around the rec room and found nothing to entertain him. He let out a small growl and got up to leave.

Joe was walking by the rec room when Sideswipe stepped out looking disgruntled. "Heya Sides, hows kicks?"

Sideswipe stopped and looked down at Joe. "I'm bored out of my processor."

Joe grinned "don't tell me you've run out of jokes already?"

"Sunstreaker is out on patrol and I just don't feel like goin solo today" he replied.

"Ah, you just need the proper motivation my friend. I could introduce you to some of the more common jokes pulled around my fire house. I'm not sure how effective they will be against autobots but its worth a try" Joe said, her grin growing more devious.

Sideswipe brightened at the concept and kneeled down to offer Joe his hand. "Lets do this."

Prowl looked up as Ironhide stormed into the control center trailing some sort of thin clear plastic.

"I'm gonna kill him. I'm gonna do it this time" growled the weapons specialist.

Prowl plucked a piece of plastic off Ironhide's shoulder. "I'm assuming Sideswipe is on the move again?"

Ironhide smirked at Prowl's statement to the obvious. "That aft headed slagger has something called saran wrap taped around almost every doorway in the base! You don't see the damn stuff till you walk into it!"

Prowl examined some of the 'saran wrap' he had removed from Ironhide. "Well this is new. I can't say as I've heard of him doing this one before."

Prowl motioned Ironhide to standby a moment as he opened up a comm. line that had just lit up.

"Hey Prowl this is Inferno. Any of ya'll seen the extra fire suppression foam tanks I had filled up the other day? I coulda sworn I left em next to the lower level supply room but they're not there."

Prowl frowned as he replied across the comm. line. "Negative. To the best of my knowledge they should still be there."

Another comm. line lit up and Prowl asked Inferno to standby while he opened the new line.

"Prowl, this is Hound. We have a minor problem with the wash racks. The entire area is filled to the ceiling with some sort of foam. I think Gears is in there somewhere trying to find his way out."

Prowl looked up at Ironhide and sighed. "Understood, I will have Inferno respond. Perhaps his water cannons can help dilute the foam enough to locate Gears."

Prowl closed the line down and re-opened the line with Inferno. "Inferno disregard my previous response. I believe we have located your missing tanks. They will have to be re-filled. I also need you to respond to the wash racks, your assistance is needed to find Gears."

"Uh…ok?" Inferno answered sounding confused.

Prowl closed the line down and opened another line that lit up.

"Heya Prowler! It's the Jazzman. Hey I know yer busy but could ya send someone to help me out in the engineering bay?"

Prowl frowned "what requires assistance in the engineering bay?"

"I think Windcharger is stuck to the ventilation fan."

"You _think_ it is Windcharger?" Prowl asked in confusion.

"Well, I can only make out part of a red leg through the duct tape. I dunno, it might be Gears. I'm still waitin for the fan to power down, its still spinnin."

Prowl sighed "no Gears is still stuck in the wash racks. I'll send Ironhide."

"Stuck in the wash racks?!"

Prowl cut the line off not really wanting to hear Jazz's laughter. "Ironhide would you mind assisting Jazz?"

Ironhide muttered as he started for the side door. Before he could open it something crashed into it from the other side. He opened the door and Bluestreak half fell into the room.

Bluestreak groaned and looked up. "Did you know there is oil spread all over the floor leading to that door? Because I didn't. And I was coming here to tell you that Ratchet says that if one more mech shows up in the med bay glowing green that he is going to reprogram them into a toaster or maybe a microwave, I forget. But while coming here to tell you that I hit that patch of oil and slid into the door and that's when you found me. But you already know that so…"

Prowl raised his hand to stop Bluestreak from rambling on. "Glowing green?"

Bluestreak nodded. "Ratchet analyzed the stuff and said it is some sort of liquid the humans use in something called glow sticks. But he says not to worry because its not toxic to us and it doesn't do any harm or anything, it just glows, and its really bright…"

Prowl let Bluestreak ramble on and looked over at Ironhide who just grumbled something about killing again.

4 more comm. lines went off, each a new prank before Optimus Prime stepped into the control center. Prowl started to come to attention but Prime waved for him to remain. Prowl sighed as he strode over to his commander and pulled saran wrap from his frame. "Has anyone found him yet?" Prime asked.

Prowl shook his head. "Negative sir. We have swept the majority of the base and have not been able to locate him."

Optimus nodded. "Are we even sure it is him? These tricks are new. Don't get me wrong, he has never disappointed with his creativity but this seems a bit much."

Prowl raised an optic ridge. "The only other logical choices would be Sunstreaker and Jazz. Sunstreaker is still out on patrol so it is not him. Even if he was involved then Sideswipe would still be sought out as the two usually prank together."

Prime chuckled. "And Jazz?"

Prowl shook his head. "Jazz is much harder to catch then the twins but in this case it is not him. He has been assisting Ironhide in the engineering bay for quite sometime now. Apparently there were several layers of duct tape involved."

Another comm. line lit up and Prowl groaned as he opened it.

"Prowl? This is Hoist. I have located Sideswipe but…well I believe we should rethink sending him to the brig."

"That is not your decision to make Hoist. Apprehend him and I will meet you at the holding cells."

"Yes but, well it may take me sometime to bring him there."

"Why?" Prowl asked suddenly wary.

"Well it appears as if the 'Prank King' has himself become a victim of a prank. He is currently hanging upside down in a hallway not far from Wheeljack's lab."

"Understood, I will be there momentarily." Prowl closed the line and looked over at Optimus with confused optics.

Optimus crossed his arms across his chest solemnly and sighed. "We have a new prankster in our ranks."

Sideswipe walked into the rec room sometime later and found Joe sitting on one of the tables. "We good?" he asked.

Joe smiled. "Of course." She stretched out her metal encased arm. "You were a lot heavier to raise to the ceiling then Cliffjumper, but it was worth it. No one suspects you were involved now."

Sideswipe chuckled as he took a seat across from her. "And you are sure no one is gonna suspect you?"

Joe smirked "are you kidding? I am _all_ that is innocence. Who is going to suspect me?"

"Innocent my aft!!"

Joe's eyes shot up and a horrified look appeared on her face.

Sideswipe spun around in his chair and wilted at seeing Ratchet standing in the doorway. "Think we can make it past him?"

"Nope" Joe replied.

"We're slagged" Sideswipe sighed.

"Yup" Joe sighed in return.

**Sunstreaker**

"You are slagged when I catch you!" yelled Sunstreaker. "You hear me? I don't care if it is fratricide or not! You are gonna be scrap when I am done with you!"

The red Lamborghini he was chasing laughed back at him. "Aw come on bro, it was just a bit of fun!"

"Fun? Fun!? How is hitting a puddle at high speed while I am sitting next to it fun Sideswipe!? the yellow twin shouted back. "I am completely covered with mud!!"

"Actually I'd say you are only _half_ covered with mud" Sideswipe called back.

Joe popped her head out of the roof of her jeep when she heard screaming in the distance. Suddenly Sideswipe came speeding into view with Sunstreaker right on his tail.

"Hi Joe, bye Joe" Sideswipe called as he sped past her into the base.

Joe blinked and shook her head.

Sideswipe managed to reach his room before Sunstreaker. He quickly transformed and slammed his hand on the locking mechanism just as Sunstreaker came into view.

BANG BANG BANG!!

"Sideswipe open the fragging door!" Sunstreaker shouted.

"Exactly how stupid do you think I am?" replied Sideswipe. He made his way over to their entertainment center and settled down on the floor. There was no way he was stepping out until his brother calmed down.

Sunstreaker pounded and kicked at the door for awhile but eventually gave up. Growling he left the locked, and now dented, door and made his way to the wash racks.

He stepped into the wash racks and nearly ran into Wheeljack and Hoist.

Wheeljack took a step back at the sight of the angry mud coated mech. "Sunstreaker! I'm sorry, we really had hoped to have this finished before you returned from patrol. The wash racks are not operational yet."

Sunstreaker stormed out of the wash racks and headed back towards the base entrance. He stepped back out into the sunlight and screamed in frustration.

"Feel better?" called Joe.

Sunstreaker turned to glare at Joe who had popped back out of the roof of her jeep.

"What do you want human?" Sunstreaker growled.

"Well I wanted to put the roof back on my jeep now that its dry but someone screaming kind of distracted me. So what's wrong?" Joe replied calmly.

Sunstreaker stormed over to Joe. "You want to know what's wrong? Look at what Sideswipe did to me! Look at me!!"

Joe blinked at him "so you're a little muddy. Last I checked that stuff can be washed off."

"Not when Wheeljack and Hoist decide to do random fragging maintenance on the slagging wash racks!" Sunstreaker yelled back.

Joe rested her chin on her arms "I can wash you if you'd like."

Sunstreaker glared at her.

Joe smiled "I just finished up with my jeep. The supplies are still in the back and I haven't rolled the hose up yet."

Sunstreaker reduced his glare to just a frown. Remain covered in mud or let a human wash him. What a choice he thought to himself. "Fine. But if you scratch me Ratchet is going to need a new apprentice."

Joe got out of her Jeep and started to unload the supplies from the back. Sunstreaker appeared to calm down a bit as he watched. He actually looked slightly impressed at her collection of car supplies.

She dragged the hose over and looked up at the Lamborghini. "Ok, transform and let's get this show on the road."

Sunstreaker narrowed his optics briefly but did as he was told.

"Just as a little heads up, I can't heat up the water out here like the wash racks. The water is a little cold" Joe said as she tested the water spray on her hand.

"Just get this over with" replied Sunstreaker grumpily.

Joe shrugged and turned the water spray onto the yellow twin. He shivered slightly as the cold water hit him. She made sure that every part of Sunstreaker had been rinsed to include wheel wells. Eventually she switched to a soft brush and soap and began to clean.

Sunstreaker couldn't help but relax a little as Joe ran small circles with her brush on his frame. His anger melted away as he enjoyed the human's work.

Joe noticed Sunstreaker settling down on his wheels and smiled. "Feel good?" she asked.

"You have _no_ idea" Sunstreaker replied. Joe worked with the brush for a long time occasionally picking the hose back up to rinse. Sunstreaker was spotless by the time she set the brush aside and rolled up the hose. She carefully toweled him dry and then walked back to her jeep to get something out of the back. "What are you doing?" he asked.

"I'm going to make the sun envious of your bright coat, that's what I'm doing" Joe replied as she walked back holding a container of wax.

Sunstreaker muted his vocals as soon as he saw the word 'wax' on the container. He was not sure he could take it if the human, or worse! some passing autobot, heard his moans once she started to massage the wax onto his frame. 'Who knew it would feel this good!' he thought to himself. He was sure she was done once the wax had been wiped free but Joe returned with bottles of leather cleaner and conditioner. He almost let a whimper escape his mute when she started. Sunstreaker did not consider himself to be the most religious of mechs but surely this human was a gift from Primus!

Joe finally finished and started putting her supplies back into her jeep. Sunstreaker transformed and stretched. He looked down at Joe and smiled. "You…are amazing" he said softly. "I don't even know where to begin with thanking you."

Joe smiled up at him. "Don't worry about it. You deserve to get pampered once in awhile."

"Once in awhile?" Sunstreaker asked. "Meaning you will do this again?"

Joe shrugged "sure. Now go on inside, I know you are dying to show off."

Sunstreaker smiled and strutted into the base. He made his way to the rec room and grabbed a cube of energon making sure everyone saw how his coat glittered in the room's light.

"Well aren't we all sparkly today" Ratchet said as he walked in with Wheeljack.

Wheeljack raised an optic ridge at the surprisingly mud free mech.

"I got the full treatment" Sunstreaker bragged.

Ratchet's curiosity got the better of him. "What is the _full treatment_?"

Sunstreaker grinned. "Joe washed me."

"She what?!" Ratchet shouted.

"And waxed me, and cleaned my floors, tires, and interior. Oh and she conditioned the leather too" Sunstreaker purred. "She has very strong hands and applied just the right amount of pressure." Sunstreaker smiled and soaked up the jealous looks he was getting. "_And_ she said she would do it again."

With that Wheeljack turned around and started to walk out of the rec room.

"Where are you going?" Ratchet asked the departing engineer.

"I'm going to go find out how much she charges. I want my turn!" he replied.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9 - Revelations**

Ratchet growled with frustration as he realized he had been reading the same datapad without actually reading it for about 20 minutes now. He set the datapad on his desk and sighed. What was wrong with him? He looked around his office. It was clean and organized, quiet and no one else there except him. Ah, that was the problem. No Joe to break the silence.

Ratchet hadn't realized how much he would miss her presence in the med bay. Oh he knew that she had to return to her duties as a human medic when her arm healed, but he didn't know that not having her around would have this affect on him. He could just picture her wandering into his office now asking yet another question about something she found in her study material. The thought put a smile on his face plates.

On a whim Ratchet activated his hologram on the desk in front of him. The image of the dark haired male paramedic he had chosen as his form appeared and stared up at him. Ratchet altered his sensors and looked through the hologram back at his cybertronian form. I guess this is a view Joe would normally have when she is standing on my desk he thought to himself. Ratchet transferred sensory input back to his cybertronian form. He grinned as he got a 'Wheeljack' of an idea.

Suddenly the hologram in front of him had dark red hair in a pony tail in Joe's preferred style while working or training. Ratchet chuckled at how ridiculous the hologram looked now. The male medic suddenly had green eyes instead of blue and became thinner. Ratchet barely adjusted the height; Joe was taller then the average human female. Ratchet made the final changes and suddenly Joe was standing on his desk staring up at him. Something still wasn't quite right about the image. Ratchet frowned at the 'Joe' and realized what was missing. The hologram suddenly adjusted it's pose leaning more of it's weight onto one hip, it crossed its arms across it's chest and grinned. _That _was more like Joe.

"Hey that's a pretty good likeness" Wheeljack's voice startled Ratchet and he quickly deactivated the hologram and glared at his friend.

Wheeljack walked further into the office and took the extra chair facing Ratchet's desk.

"You fragger, I know you know how to knock. I've seen you do it before" Ratchet snapped.

Wheeljack shrugged. "So missing your human already huh? Why'd ya deactivate the hologram? Like I said it was a pretty good likeness."

"She's not _my_ human Wheeljack. But yes, I guess to answer your question I do sort of miss having her around in the med bay" Ratchet replied.

Wheeljack nodded "well she's still coming in for training after her shift is over right?"

Ratchet shook his head. "No, Ironhide is taking Joe down to the firing range again this evening. After work and then playing with explosive projectiles she will probably opt for going home afterwards to recharge. And tomorrow she is supposed to take Jazz to some sort of music festival."

Wheeljack flashed his voice indicators happily. "Everyone loves Joe. Seems like you have to schedule in time with her now a days."

Ratchet crossed his arms on his desk and rested his chin on top. "Yeah, everyone loves Joe" he sighed.

"Oh stop your pouting" Wheeljack snorted. "Its not like she is going to forget her training or her best friend for that matter."

Ratchet glanced up at Wheeljack and raised an optic ridge. "What?"

"I said stop…your…pouting. Its not like she is going to forget her training or her best friend. Do you need your audios checked?" Wheeljack replied.

"I highly doubt that she considers me her best friend Wheeljack" Ratchet muttered into his forearms. He expected Wheeljack to say something in return but his friend remained silent. Finally the silence started to irritate him so he raised his optics from his desk and jumped when he saw Wheeljack's optics within a foot of his. "What are you doing?!"

Wheeljack lowered his optic ridges to narrow his optics. "Oh no" he nearly whispered. He leaned in slightly closer as if looking for some sort of flaw in Ratchet's optic lenses. "Oh no" he repeated and then backed away to his chair. "Oh Ratchet, what have you done?"

"You're glitched you know that?" Ratchet snapped back. "What was all that about? I haven't done anything."

Wheeljack slowly shook his head. "You like her."

"Oh course I do. Everyone does. Well except for maybe Cliffjumper." Ratchet replied.

Wheeljack sighed. "No, I've seen this look on you before. You _like_ her."

Ratchet looked at his friend thinking that the engineer finally fried his circuits one too many times.

"Ok fine. Pretend all you want. I'll keep quiet" Wheeljack said as he stood up to leave. Just before he stepped out of the office he turned back to Ratchet. "You know I'm actually kind of jealous."

Ratchet growled "out!" and stood as if to chase the engineer out. Wheeljack made good his retreat and Ratchet sat down hard in his chair with a sigh. He stared at the ceiling thinking about everything that had happened since Joe was brought to their base. He tried to come up with answers or at the very least explanations but found nothing. He continued to stare at the ceiling until a light recharge came over him.

Wheeljack picked up a few things from his lab then made his way to the base entrance. Once he reached the entrance he transformed into his Lancia Stratos form and sped off. It took him about an hour to reach the suburbs close to where the fateful battle where Joe was injured took place. He found the firehouse where Joe was supposed to be assigned near the heart of town. He pulled around to the back parking lot and waited.

Wheeljack amused himself by watching the locals run about doing their various errands. He ached to wander over to the tool shop that was down the street but wisely remained in his vehicle mode. Eventually a human male stepped out of the back of the firehouse and made his way to the parking lot. Now or never Wheeljack thought to himself.

The human male dressed in the same sort of uniform as Joe slowed his steps as he spotted the sports car. He admired the vehicle and wondered who it belonged to. Suddenly the driver window rolled down and a man called out. "Hey! I'm tryin to find a lady named Joe. I'm a friend of hers, the name is Jack."

The human nodded "yeah she's assigned here. She is out on a call but should be back soon. You want to wait for her in the firehouse?"

"Nah, I'll just hang out here, thanks though" Wheeljack called out.

The human male seemed satisfied with that and walked over to his own car as Wheeljack rolled his window back up. The male was correct in that Wheeljack didn't have long to wait. A white and red ambulance pulled up to the gas pumps a few moments later and Joe and another human male jumped out.

"Go ahead on inside Sean, I'll put some gas in then I'll be in to help with the report" Joe said to the other human who nodded and disappeared into the firehouse. Joe started the fuel pumps and then leaned across the ambulance resting her forehead on the hood. Wheeljack thought she looked tired or maybe stressed.

"Hey gorgeous, whats a guy gotta do to get your number?" Wheeljack called out playfully.

"Not interested so go blow it out your…" Joe cut off as she realized exactly who it was that she was snapping at. "Wheeljack! What are you doing here?" She turned off the pumps and ran over to the Lancia.

Wheeljack opened his driver side door and Joe got in. "Heya Joe. Whats with the red and white? You had a hummer rescue vehicle similar to Ratchet's design before didn't you?"

Joe shrugged "I guess they wanted to go with a more classic design with the replacement vehicle. It is still a newer model and runs great, it just sticks closer with the original ambulance roots."

Wheeljack tried to picture Ratchet in red and white coloring and chuckled. "So anyways I just thought I'd drop by to give ya a little present."

Joe raised an eyebrow and looked around. She smiled when she saw a duplicate of the metallic arm Wheeljack had built for her arm. This one was obviously built for her other arm now that she didn't have the splint in the way. "Thanks Wheeljack! How much can I lift when using both of them?"

"Not sure" Wheeljack replied. "We'll get around to running some tests with both of them in place when you get some time. The voice activation for this one is initiate SL2 by the way. And there's something else for you in the box on the floor."

Joe hadn't noticed the small box on the floor at first. She picked it up and opened it. Inside was a metallic black device that she recognized. "Is this a Bluetooth?" Joe asked as she picked up the small ear clip cell phone device.

Wheeljack chuckled. "Yes and no." I had to make it look like something normal for a human to wear on their ear. I suppose I could of made one of those smaller devices that just fit into your ear but that kind of freaks me out to be honest with you."

Joe smiled at the concept of anything actually freaking out their resident mad scientist. "So who am I talking to when using this?"

Wheeljack explained in excited tones. He always got excited when explaining his new toys. "Well it can set up a comm. line with just about any of us. Like your arms it is voice activated. To set up a line say something like 'initate comm. Wheeljack' and to terminate the line 'terminate comm. Wheeljack' and that should do it."

Joe smiled at the gift. "It's a 'KISS' huh?"

The Lancia shook in surprise. "A what?!"

Joe laughed. "I knew that would catch you off guard. 'KISS' is an old acronym we had in the Army. It stands for keep it simple stupid. It refers to the idea of keeping things as simple as possible to avoid stupid mistakes.

Wheeljack laughed at that. "I am all too familiar with that concept. It is not easy trying to develop new things that the twins may have to end up using. So I hear ya have a busy next couple of days."

Joe was trying on her new comm. device. "Yeah, I promised Ironhide I'd fire a few rounds off with him after work. He told me I could try one of the autobot hybrid weapons this time. Its going to be weird firing energy instead of bullets. And tomorrow is the music festival. Jazz has been begging me for tickets all week."

"So you taking a break from training with Ratchet then?" Wheeljack asked carefully.

Joe frowned sharply at the question. "Of course not! I'm just going to have to pull a couple of late nights is all."

Wheeljack wondered what Ratchet would think of that. He'd probably be ecstatic that Joe was so dedicated. Not to mention he'd get to see his human. He can try to deny that all he wants but he's not foolin me! Wheeljack laughed to himself.

Joe's head suddenly snapped up and her attention focused on the firehouse as a speaker came to life. "I gotta respond to that 'Jack. Thanks for stopping by, it was great to see you. And thanks for all the great toys. I am gonna have a hell of a debt to you by the end of the year."

Wheeljack opened his door and let Joe out. "As I've heard you say a few times, 'no worries.' I'll see you later, be careful out there." Wheeljack watched as the ambulance tore out of the parking lot with lights and sirens blaring. He pulled out of the parking lot and started to make his way back to base. About halfway there the comm. lines came to life as an SOS call went out from Sunstreaker and Sideswipe.

"Frag, must be bad if those two are actually _asking_ for help" Wheeljack said to himself as he slammed on his breaks to figure out where the twins' position was.

"So yeah, feel free to join the party at any time guys! We've got 4 unknown decepticons on our tails and ow! Ok change that to 5 unknowns" yelled Sideswipe across the comm. line.

Wheeljack frowned as he realized where the twins were. They had been chased away from the northern part of the town Joe was in. He spun his tires out turning back into the direction he just came from. Why were the decepticons showing interest in that area…twice?

Wheeljack pushed his speed up as he listened to the radio traffic as response teams were organized and dispatched. 5 unidentified decepticons. The decepticons already out numbered them as it was. He had a sinking feeling that rough times were ahead.

Joe was returning to the firehouse when she saw a familiar yellow Lamborghini fly past with a Ferrari and another Lamborghini that was _not_ Sideswipe in close pursuit. She glanced over at her partner and made a decision. She slammed on the breaks. "Get out."

Sean looked over at her like she was crazy. "What? What are you doing?"

"I said get out! I am the ranking officer. Get out or you will be scrubbing the engine bay floor with a toothbrush!" Joe snapped. Sean wisely unbuckled his seatbelt and jumped out just as Joe floored the gas and followed Sunstreaker.

Eventually she came to an intersection and happened to glance down the way to her left. She hit the breaks and stared. All 3 mechs were in their cybertronian robot forms now. The other Lamborghini and the Ferrari 'bots were standing over a moaning Sunstreaker. "Frag!" Joe shouted as she fumbled with her 'bluetooth.'

"Initiate comm. Sideswipe!" Joe took a deep breath. "Sideswipe, what's your location?"

"Joe?" Came a confused reply. "How did you…"

"Sides, can you track Sunstreaker's position?" Joe asked in a hurry.

"We got separated by those new decepticons but I can still sense his location. We've already called in for backup." Sideswipe suddenly sounded nervous. "Why?"

"Get over here now! He's down and we've got 2 non-friendlies wanting to make it permanent." Joe tried to relay while trying to unbutton her uniform shirt. "Terminate comm. Sideswipe" she managed as she dug out a set of trauma sheers and cut away the t-shirt around her arm and slid her new metallic arm into place. She made the necessary adjustments and said "initiate SL2."

Joe had forgotten how painful the needles were the first time. She was not used to the device being on this arm instead of the other one. Once her vision cleared up she sped off in search of the local tool shop. She hated to leave Sunstreaker but knew that she was no match for the 2 mechs standing over him gloating. A cassetticon who couldn't fire on her she could take, 2 full sized warrior design mechs that had no problems using their weapons…not so much. She pulled up to the tool shop and ran inside with her backpack slung over her shoulder. She grabbed all the supplies she needed stuffing them into her backpack, gave her card to the clerk yelling at him to handle it, and ran back outside.

She drove back to the intersection where she originally spotted Sunstreaker and frowned when there was no one there. In the distance she heard a war cry and spotted the unknown Lamborghini suddenly being tackled down another street by Sideswipe. Yeah, not going to try getting involved with that one she thought to herself. She cautiously stepped out of the ambulance and grabbed her backpack. She made her way to where she last saw Sunstreaker and frowned at the pool of energon on the pavement. The energon smeared ever so slightly to the left, so she turned left and searched.

Joe tracked more splashes of energon further down the road and was growing concerned over the amount found. She finally came abreast to an alley and found him. Sunstreaker had one hand propped out against a building trying to hold himself up. The other hand was pressed hard to his chest covering a wound that was leaking energon at a dangerous rate. Sunstreaker was panting heavily through his intakes and his optics had taken a dim hue. Joe was about to call to him when he collapsed backwards.

"Sunstreaker!" Joe yelled as she ran over to him. She climbed up onto his chassis and kneeled next to the wound. "Christ" she said to herself as she examined it. She climbed back down off the chassis and adjusted her metal arm settings to lift heavy weight. She undid the locks holding Sunstreaker's chest armor in place and slid the plates aside. She climbed back onto his chest and set her backpack down. She spared a brief moment to look at Sunstreaker's spark shining within its protective chamber. She pulled out a portable arc welder and several clamps. "Hold on Sunstreaker, I got ya" she spoke softly as she worked.

"Initiate comm. Ratchet" she had been dreading this part. She knew Ratchet was not going to be happy that she had not contacted him _before_ working on Sunstreaker. But she needed to move fast to seal those leaks. "Ratchet?"

"Joe!? How in the name of Primus?" came the expected response. Apparently Wheeljack hadn't told anyone about the comm. link for her.

"Are you coming with the backup or are you still at base?" she asked.

"I am with the responding forces. After the last battle here we figured it would be better to have quick access to field medicine" Ratchet replied.

Joe nodded as she clamped another small leak she had found. "Are you able to find me by using this signal?"

There was a pause. "Are you hurt?" Ratchet asked in a strangely hesitant tone.

"No, but Sunstreaker is. I've already made access into his chassis and sealed off the majority of the leaks but he is in desperate need of an energon transfer." Joe looked back into the chest cavity "I'll also need a new energon pump valve."

"We will discuss this at _length_ when we get back to base" Ratchet deadpanned. "I am enroute to your location now."

Joe winced. "Terminate comm. Ratchet." Well she was in for a fun lecture tonight.

"Sunstreaker!" came a shout a few streets down.

"We're over here Sideswipe!" Joe yelled back.

Sideswipe came running around the corner at the end of the street and ran over to Joe and Sunstreaker. He took a moment to gather the images before him. Sunstreaker's chest plates had been opened and Joe was moving about purposefully within his chassis with a small arc welder. She was covered in his brother's energon. "How is he?" he whispered almost afraid to ask.

"He is stable now that I've got some clamps in place, I'm trying to weld some of the harder stuff up now. Ratchet is on his way now. He's going to be fine Sideswipe so sit down and relax. Do you have any injuries?" Joe gave Sideswipe a once over looking for obvious injuries.

"Nothing my internal repairs can't handle." Sideswipe settled down beside his brother and watched Joe work.

Joe offered him a quick smile then returned to work.

Ratchet finally managed to make his way to where Joe had transmitted from. He stepped into the alley and found Sideswipe sitting on the ground next to an offlined Sunstreaker. He frowned as he stepped closer and was able to see Sunstreaker's wounds. Joe was inside the chassis completely covered in energon and securing a leak to a secondary energon line leading to Sunstreaker's coolant system. "Joe?"

"Hi" she replied weakly. "How fares the battle?"

"It wasn't much of a battle actually. We think the twins stumbled on a newly arrived gestault team. We think they were given the order to retreat once the autobot forces showed up" Ratchet replied as he set up an energon transfer. "How did you get involved in this mess?"

"I saw Sunstreaker being chased by 2 of those new decepticons. I followed in my ambulance and when I found them I called for Sideswipe. I went to get some supplies and when I came back everyone was gone except for Sunstreaker who went offline" she replied.

Ratchet growled. "Stubborn, slagging, femme! You _chased_ after a pair of decepticons?! Are you out of your mind?"

Joe smiled as Ratchet continued his tirade. Wheeljack showed up after awhile with a minor burn mark on his shoulder that made Joe frown. After assuring both Ratchet and Joe that he was fine Wheeljack stuck around and helped where he could.

They worked in the alley until the energy transfer was complete. Sunstreaker actually came back online near the end of it. He saw Joe walking around covered in his energon and his optics snapped over to his brother. Joe knew enough by now to know the two were communicating over their bond.

The trip back to base was uneventful with Sunstreaker being the only major injury. A few others needed repairs but they were all very minor or cosmetic. Ratchet stretched his joints as he finished with the last of them. Sunstreaker was recharging on a repair berth in the back with his brother resting in a chair next to him. He walked over to his office to check up on Joe. She almost fell off a repair berth in exhaustion earlier. She had actually used her enhanced arm to get a 'death grip' onto the berth refusing to let go when he told her that she needed rest. He almost had to drag the repair berth into the office along with her.

He stepped into the office and made his way over to his desk. Joe was curled up asleep on a datapad that was still opened to a chapter about vents and filters. Ratchet quietly sat down in his chair behind the desk and watched the Joe sleep. He crossed his arms on the desk and rested his chin on top.

Ratchet's hologram activated before he realized what he was doing. He transferred sensory input to the hologram and now saw Joe from it's perspective. He walked the form over to Joe and kneeled next to her. His hand reached out to brush aside a strand of red hair but the hologram digits passed through her solid form.

"Untouchable…unattainable" he whispered sadly.

Ratchet turned the hologram off and watched Joe for a little while longer until recharge over took him. The next day Wheeljack entered the office to make sure everyone was ok. His voice indicators flashed a happy light blue at the sight before him. Ratchet was still in recharge with one hand tucked under his head. The other hand lay palm up with Joe curled up asleep inside.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10 - Lessons**

The alarm no longer echoed through the base and the sounds of bots rushing towards the base entrance had long since passed. Ratchet had gone out with the others this time while Joe and Wheeljack stayed behind to prepare the bay for injured. Joe hated this part, the waiting, the not knowing. Wheeljack had turned on the med bay's radio to listen to the "battle traffic" so they would know what to prepare for. Both of them practically radiated nervousness and concern for their colleagues and friends. They listened to the radio and hoped it wouldn't be too bad this time.

Joe glanced over at Wheeljack and wondered what was taking him. Bluestreak was the autobots' official chatterbox but when Wheeljack got nervous he pulled a close second to the title. She guessed it was his way of not dwelling on the possibilities that battles could bring. Joe had deployed twice to Iraq over the last few years but this bot had been in countless battles in a war that had lasted millions of years.

"So" Wheeljack startled Joe out of her thoughts "any questions today? Perhaps I can help with a lesson that Ratchet hasn't hit up yet or didn't explain all the way."

Joe blinked. Well a lesson was always welcome, and if that's how Wheeljack wanted to break the tension this time around she'd be more then happy to play along. Besides, she could always count on Wheeljack to give information on the more…awkward…topics that Ratchet and his datapads seemed to neglect. "Sure! Did you have something in mind or do I get to choose?"

Wheeljack leaned his back against a repair berth facing Joe. "Pick a topic, surprise me."

Over the last several months Joe had gotten pretty good at reading the half of Wheeljack's face that was visible. Right now he was giving his 'happy face' which meant bright optics, voice indicators flashing a light blue, and slightly elevated optic ridges. 'Ok, let's not spoil the attempt at the happy mood then' Joe thought to herself. She pondered for a moment trying to come up with an acceptable topic. "Tell me about bots' sparks. I mean I know that you are sentient robots and all but exactly how do feelings and emotions fall into the mix?"

"Feelings, emotions, and sparks. Riiiiiight." Wheeljack pulled himself up onto the repair berth and sat with dangling legs as he debated on where to start. "Well without a spark a bot is no more then a drone. It is what makes us individual beings and able to express feelings and emotions. Our programming can be altered, our bodies changed or replaced, and our processors can be adjusted. But the spark…the best way to describe it is to compare it with what you humans call a soul."

Joe listened intently. She had been wanting to know more about this for quite sometime. But for some reason the others seemed to almost shy away from the subject. It was as if speaking about sparks was almost taboo.

The lecture paused for a moment as both of them listened to the radio briefly. The battle had begun. Wheeljack turned back towards Joe after a moment and continued where he left off. "Each bot has a spark, though in cases like Sideswipe and Sunstreaker the spark is split. They each have a spark that pulses within their chassis, but each spark is a half of the other. That is where their bond comes into play and why they are able to sense and communicate with each other. It is also, I'm sorry to say, why when one dies the other will follow."

'Ok, happy mood gone' Joe sighed to herself. She suddenly brightened at an idea. "Are twins the only ones who share a bond?" Joe already knew the answer but she really only knew the basics behind it and wanted to know more. She smiled as she saw Wheeljack perk up at the question and gave herself a mental pat on the back for asking.

"That kind of bonding is a wondrous gift from Primus. It is when ates choose to take their relationship to a higher level. Their sparks bond and they are united as one. Sort of like your marriage concept but something more. A bonded pair are able to share the same affects that twins share. They can communicate with each other and sense each other's feelings and thoughts. They can also share physical affects." Wheeljack's voice indicators glowed a soft lavender in his version of a blush. "Interfacing between a bonded pair is extremely intense from what I understand."

Joe grinned. She could well imagine what Wheeljack meant by intense. If interfacing was what she figured it to be, then interfacing when you could share feelings, emotions, thoughts, _and_ physical touch…well damn that's just mind blowing.

"It can occur between mechs, femmes, or a combination. I never understood why you humans would restrict your chances at finding your true other half based on sexual preference. When Sam first heard about berthmates and bondmates…well lets just say it took him awhile to get over his homophobia" Wheeljack chuckled.

"I don't see a problem with it. It is hard enough finding someone that special as it is without limiting your choices. I have known several people who live an _alternate lifestyle_ and they are no different from anyone else."

"Well it's nice to see that at least some humans understand."

"So, other then what you've listed what else can you tell me about bonds?"

"A bonded pair can also share the other less desirable physical affects. When one is injured the other will feel it too."

Joe frowned at that. So much for choosing a happy topic. "Will the same thing that happens to twinned sparks also occur in this kind of bond if one dies?"

Wheeljack nodded soberly. "It is possible to survive if your bondmate perishes, but it is rare. When one dies the other just does not want to live, and I mean that on more then one level. Although a bot may survive his bondmate's death, they can be permanently changed by such a traumatic experience. They are usually only a shadow of what they once were. It is rare to survive a bondmate's death, it is near unheard of to survive and still flourish."

"Ok obviously a twinned spark is permanent, what about the other one?"

"Once the firewalls that protect our core programming are brought down and keyed to the other half, it is irreversible. It is still possible at that point to not complete the bond, but the one who let their firewalls down will forever be open to the other and will not be able to take on another bond. A rare occurrence fortunately as both parties are usually ready to complete the bond if they have reached that step."

"Gotcha, so…excluding the twins, do we have any bonded bots running around base?"

Wheeljack chuckled. "None that I know of. It isn't done much anymore due to the war. Though there are a few couples that should probably just go ahead and get it over with. Some of them act as if they've been bonded for a millennia as it is. And there are those who should at least be a couple and are either too stubborn or are in denial."

"I've heard a few bots joke that you and Ratchet act like an old bonded couple" Joe teased. She laughed as Wheeljack's optics narrowed.

"Ok that's just gross. Ratchet and I have been best friends since our academy days. There has never been, and there will never be, a romantic thought between us."

"Awww, why not? He's smart, funny, and cute." Wheeljack's splutters and protests just urged Joe on. 'Why quit when you're winning?' she thought smugly to herself. "Oh come on now Jack, _everyone_ dreams about landing a doctor. Or has someone already landed him?"

Wheeljack sighed and let Joe have her fun…for the moment anyways. 'Alright Joe, time to turn the tables, it's _my_ turn' Wheeljack thought to himself with a grin. 'And I might just be able to help Ratchet out a little in the process, the glitched hopeless romantic in denial that he is.' "Actually Ratchet has been single for quite sometime. Speaking of single I don't exactly see you parading around with anyone."

Joe's laughter cut off sharply.

'And Wheeljack scores a point.' "You've been practically living at this base for what? 4-5 months now? I'm beginning to think you aren't interested in _human_ males anymore." Wheeljack blinked at the sudden glare directed at him. 'Ok, that might have been a little too direct a little too fast' Wheeljack mentally berated himself.

"Wheeljack, prepare the med bay for the following injuries…" Ratchet's voice carried across the bay's speakers.

'Thank Primus for small favors. Thanks for the interruption Ratchet, I thought I was in trouble for a second there.' Wheeljack sighed in relief as he dug out the specific tools required for the injuries now being listed across the radio.

It didn't take long for the first patients to appear. Those who were in more serious condition were transported by Skyfire, which meant they were also the first to arrive. Ratchet crashed through the med bay doors just ahead of Ironhide and Hoist who were carrying an offline Hound.

"Place him on that berth over there!" Ratchet pointed to a berth on the far wall. "Wheeljack! I need you to work on Huffer. They are carrying him in next; he took shrapnel to a coolant pump. I'll help you out as soon as I get Hound stable."

Ratchet removed several sections of plating from Hound's chassis and frowned at the numerous leaks awaiting him. A clamp suddenly appeared in his peripheral vision and he smiled at the offered tool Joe had held up to him. "Alright, you can help with the tools but remember…"

"Hands off in first phase" Joe cut him off with a grin.

"Wise aft."

"Takes one to know one."

"Well that's an immature response."

"Well it would seem like a child's response to someone as ancient as you are. You've got how many millions of years on me?"

Ratchet muttered as he accepted defeat and returned to working on Hound. Although Hound's wounds were serious, they were luckily easy to repair. Joe's eyes followed everything he did her attention never wavering. Ratchet offered a hand to Joe as he moved on to assist Wheeljack with Huffer.

The rest of the injured were carried in or followed shortly after by the walking wounded. Joe was cleaning off a repair berth that had just been vacated when Cliffjumper limped in. He glared at her and she straightened. Cliffjumper started to snarl when an unexpected look of fear crossed his faceplates. He lowered his optics and limped off to stand in line to await his turn to get repaired.

Joe frowned in puzzlement then looked behind her to see Sunstreaker standing behind her. His arms were crossed across his chest and he was sending his best homicidal grin in Cliffjumper's direction. "Well hello sex on wheels, what are you up to?"

Sunstreaked puffed up at the nickname and offered Joe a smile. "I got nicked by a cheap shot. It glazed the back of my knee."

Sunstreaker shifted so Joe could see. She nodded as she saw the trickle of energon dripping down his calf. Normally a small injury like that could be handled by internal repairs as long as he wasn't already overtaxing his systems. But joints like the knee were funny when it came to injury, it would not repair unassisted.

Sideswipe walked up and stood beside his brother. "Hey Joe, what's the repair wait time looking like for Sunny?"

Joe sighed and shook her head. "Gonna be awhile Sides so get comfortable. The 'cons gave us lots to put back together today. Wish I could help."

Sideswipe frowned and looked around the med bay. "Well why can't _you_ fix it?"

Joe offered the twins a look of sympathy. "Sorry guys, the Hatchet says no playing for me. First phase of training or some slag like that. So I get to help out with tools and help clean up."

"Well slag that" Sideswipe replied as he walked over to where Ratchet was reattaching Prowl's arm.

"What's he doing?" Joe asked Sunstreaker.

"Doing what he does best" the yellow twin replied.

Ratchet frowned as Sideswipe strolled up and stood next to the repair berth where he was currently working. "It had better be important, I'm busy" he snapped as he returned to welding another piece of Prowl's arm in place.

"Well I was hoping to get Sunstreaker fixed so we could get out of your way and out of your med lab.

Ratchet glanced across the bay and did a quick scan of Sunstreaker. "His injury is minor and can wait."

"Yeah, I know, that's the problem. I don't wanna wait. And I know you don't want us waiting in here…for a long time…in your med bay…while you work…annoying you…and causing Primus knows what kinds of mischief…you see where I am going with this?"

"Oh I know very well where you are going with this you piece of slag" Ratchet snapped. Prowl raised an optic ridge at the exchange between the two but remained silent. "But that doesn't change the fact that his injury is of low priority. I am not going to put him on the list ahead of everyone else just to save myself a headache which I know you two are going to give me before this night is out." Ratchet had raised an arc welder and held it uncomfortably close to Sideswipe around the time he mentioned headache.

Sideswipe looked at the welder with worried optics. "Well, if you're busy, and Wheeljack an Hoist are busy why can't Joe do it? You said it yourself that the injury is low priority."

Prowl's other optic ridge rose at that and both bots looked at Ratchet awaiting his response.

"Absolutely not Sideswipe. Joe is a very bright student and although she is progressing faster then most bots I have trained in the past she is not ready for actual hands on practicals."

"She fixed up Sunstreaker back when we found those Stuntacons didn't she?"

"He has a point!" yelled Wheeljack a few berths down.

"Shut up Wheeljack! You're not helping!" Ratchet returned his attention to the red twin. "Joe stabilized Sunstreaker, she did not fix him, his injuries required the med bay. And that was an emergency situation so the point is moot anyways."

Sideswipe smiled "please?"

"No."

"Please?"

"No, now go away, I have work to do."

"Please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please…"

"Knock it off!!" Ratchet shouted as he set the welder down and hefted his favored weapon of choice.

It took a moment for Sideswipe's optics to refocus. 'Wow, wrench at point blank range, I get bragging rights for that one' he thought to himself. He stood up and made a show of brushing dirt from his legs and shoulders. He looked back at Ratchet and took a deep breath. "Please, please, please, please, please…"

"FINE!! Tell Joe she can do a slagging primary energon pump transfer for all I care!! Just go away!!"

Sideswipe smiled happily and walked back to where his twin and Joe waited.

"Ok Joe, you're good to do your thing now" Sideswipe said as he walked up.

"You're good" Joe answered with reverence.

"I am the Admiral of Annoyance" bragged the red Lamborghini. "I hope you were watching closely Joe cause out of all the lectures and lessons you've received from Ratchet and Wheeljack, this is the one that's gonna help ya out the most."

"Hey 'Admiral' you have a dent the size of _China_ in your head" Sunstreaker smirked.


	11. Chapter 11

_Not as much Joe in this one. Had to make the story progress in the direction I wanted so had to add a few things. Hope you still enjoy it though!_

**Chapter 11 - Meetings**

Ratchet walked the halls in a daze. He had grabbed some energon in the rec room but it just wasn't enough to counter his exhausted processor. The decepticons had been ruthless in the last couple of months due to their influx of new arrivals. As much as Ratchet wanted to complain about his exhaustion he kept it to himself. The autobots that ended up in his med bay time and time again were the ones who were really suffering, not him.

"Hey Ratchet!"

Ratchet was brought out of his thoughts by a familiar voice calling to him from the direction he had just come from. He turned around and managed a weak smile as a young human male came jogging up. It had been some time since he had seen the Witwicky boy.

Sam skidded to a halt at Ratchet's feet and smiled up at the medic as he readjusted the backpack slung over his shoulder. "Man I thought I'd never catch up with you. How are ya?"

"Tired" Ratchet sighed. "Mind if we catch up in the med bay? I still have a lot of work to do before my med bay gets raped again with the next attack."

"Sure, I got time" Sam replied as he jumped onto Ratchet's offered hand. Ratchet carried Sam through the hallways and eventually made it to the med bay where Sam let out a low whistle. "You weren't kidding. I had heard about the increased attacks but this is just…damn Ratchet. Are you sure the battles weren't taking place in the med bay?"

Ratchet looked around his normally well organized and pristine med bay and had to agree with Sam's comment. They bay looked like a war had been waged in it. There was energon evident on several surfaces, bits and pieces of bots littered the floor and berths, tools everywhere, and one repair berth lay bent in half against a wall. Ratchet winced as he remembered when Ironhide had thrown it there after hearing about the recent loss of one of his closest friends. Brawn's tarp covered body lay in a back room until Ratchet could see to the rest of the arrangements.

Ratchet gently set Sam down on a clean berth and picked up a cloth to begin cleaning another berth. "Not that I am not happy to see you Sam, but why are you here? Is college not going well? And do he _others_ know you are here?" He finished the last sentence with a disapproving air.

"Oh no, college is going fine. I just had a little time between semesters and thought I would visit. As for the _others_" Sam grinned at Ratchet's displeasure with his other colleagues. "The learning process is slow. And yes they know I am here. But it's been a few months and I missed you guys. So I told them they had no choice but to give me a week off."

Ratchet turned around and offered Sam a smile. "Your presence has been missed as well Sam. I just wish these were happier times." He also wished Sam would spend more time in college or perhaps amongst his friends and not with those sector seven fraggers. The autobots were not too happy to hear that the organization was not to be dismantled but reorganized. Bumblebee was especially displeased to learn that his charge was considered an invaluable link between the humans and the autobots. They had pushed Sam into being _educated_ by the so called newly reorganized sector seven.

Sam nodded soberly and looked around the med bay again. "So where's Wheeljack? Isn't he normally here to help you out?"

"Wheeljack was in need of a break."

"You sure you aren't in need of one too? You've looked better Ratchet."

"Well thank you so much for the compliment."

"So where is your other med bay hanger on I've heard about? Bumblebee mentioned that you all saved an EMT or something and that she helps out on base now."

Ratchet nodded. "Joe, and she is a paramedic not an EMT. Apparently there is some sort of difference between the two titles and she can get quite upset if you use the wrong one. She has also taken on the role as my apprentice." Ratchet smiled proudly at being able to say that.

Sam looked around the med bay. "So where is she? I kinda wanted to meet her."

Ratchet blinked and realized that between Sam's return and his exhausted processor he had not realized that Joe was nowhere to be seen. "She might be in my office, come, I will introduce you."

Sam was carried to Ratchet's office in the medic's palm. Upon stepping into the office Ratchet had the sudden urge to cover his olfactory sensors with both hands as the human pheromone presence skyrocketed. He looked down at Sam in shock and then raised his optics to where the human had locked his own eyes.

Joe was standing on Ratchet's desk and was cleaning one of her metallic sleeves. It was the fact that she was wearing a…Ratchet conducted a brief online search for the name of the small clothing item...ah yes, sports bra and nothing else above her waist. Ratchet raised an optic ridge at the scene and then frowned as he decided that Sam had seen enough. "Joe, I have someone I'd like you to meet."

Joe jumped and spun around.

Ratchet found it amusing that rather then cover up in embarrassment like he had heard most humans would do, she actually stood up straighter. For some reason she seemed determined to not get worked up over being dressed like this in front of her teacher and friend, not to mention a stranger. He set Sam down on his desk and watched the human male warily as he approached Joe.

"Hi, I'm Sam, Sam Witwicky. You must be Joe." Sam offered his hand out to Joe.

Joe raised an eyebrow in amusement. She took his hand and shook it. "Hi Sam, its nice to meet you" after a moment she added "I'm almost old enough to be your mother so please raise the eye level." She grinned as Sam did as he was told and raised his eyes to above chest level with a blush.

Ratchet laughed as he took a seat behind his desk. Looking back at Joe he hissed and lowered his optics to her level. "You got energon in the sleeve wounds again didn't you?" He pointed to one of her arms.

Joe glanced down at the thin red rings circling her upper arms. The downside to using the sleeves Wheeljack had made for her was the fact that needles needed to make a connection between the sleeve devices and her median nerve each time she used them. Normally the rings were just a thin line of red but when they were exposed to something as poisonous as energon red streaks would also appear to bleed down her arm as it traveled painfully through her circulatory system. Energon did not become overly dangerous unless there was a high exposure. "It was only a little. I already cleaned the wounds out." She moved to put her shirt back on cutting off the conversation.

Ratchet frowned at Joe then at the sleeves shining in a pile on his desk. For a brief moment he considered making the devices _disappear_. He sighed as he realized that Joe would just get upset with him and make Wheeljack construct a new set for her anyways. 'Stubborn femme' he thought to himself.

Sam awkwardly cleared his throat to break the silence. Joe smiled at him and politely struck up a happier conversation with him. The three of them chatted for awhile telling stories and exchanging taunts pretending that these were better times.

Eventually Joe sighed and explained that she needed to get some sleep before her ambulance shift in the morning. She climbed down the desk and made her way to the door. Before leaving she gave Ratchet her trademark grin and waved happily "Don't do anything I wouldn't do Doc, I'll see ya tomorrow. It was nice meeting you Sam, enjoy your break from college."

Ratchet smiled "leaves a rather broad interpretation of just what I can or cannot get away with now doesn't it?" And with a final laugh Joe left.

Sam whistled as the door shut. "Ratchet man, if only."

Ratchet looked down at Sam with confused optics. "If only what?"

"You're hooked up to the net right now right?"

"Of course."

"Do me a favor and run an image search for a red headed fox of a medic and tell me if Joe's picture shows up."

"Oh please Sam. Joe is my student and she is a friend."

"Oh please nothing! Look, I know you guys can appreciate human beauty, I've talked with Jazz enough about it."

Ratchet muttered "Jazz is a very _special_ bot Sam. He'd think a garage door opener was attractive if the top magazines told him they were."

Sam smirked. "Whatever man. It's a good thing I am head over heels for Mikaela otherwise I'd be tryin to steal Joe from ya."

"I am her teacher and friend Sam." He took a deep breath through his intakes before he continued. "I will admit that in the time that I've known her, Joe has become dear to me. But it does not change anything. I take my ethics very seriously. Let us not mention the fact that one of us is a robot from another planet, who stands over the other like a fragging building, and don't even get me started on the age difference."

"Well yeah when you put it that way…" Sam shrugged his shoulders.

Ratchet realized that he had probably said too much and very much wished Wheeljack was there. "Well as much fun as this has been I really do need to get back to cleaning up the med bay. Please tell Mikaela that I wish her warm greetings and hope to catch her on her next visit." Ratchet stood up and offered a hand for Sam to get on.

Sam reluctantly jumped onto Ratchet's hand and was very politely removed from the med bay. He glanced over his shoulder worrying about the medic.

"Pretty obvious isn't it?" Jazz chuckled next to him causing Sam to jump.

"What's obvious?" San asked. He nodded in understanding when Jazz lowered his visor briefly and gave a meaningful look in the direction of the med bay. "Oh, the thing with the medics?"

"But of course Sam my man." Jazz grinned down at him from where he was leaning on the wall. I'm thinking about talking to our resident bookie, Smokescreen, about starting up a betting pool on what will happen with our welder wielding duo. You want in?"

Sam grinned up at Jazz. "Obvious huh? Yeah, I'll get in on the pool but only after the one regarding you an Prowl finally claims a winner you chicken shit." Sam laughed as he walked down the hallway leaving Jazz with a horrified expression.

Sam wandered down the hallway and stopped in front of Wheeljack's lab. Checking to make sure no one was around to see he keyed the door open without knocking and stepped in.

"You're late" Wheeljack called from across a table where he had his head down over a project.

Sam walked nervously over to the table not really wanting to get any closer to whatever Wheeljack was working on then was necessary. "I stopped by the med lab and talked with Ratchet. And I had to ditch Jazz on the way over here" Sam added as he accepted Wheeljack's offer to lift him onto the table.

"Jazz? And you're sure he doesn't suspect anything when you came here?" Wheeljack's voice indicators flickered nervously for a moment.

Sam shook his head as he moved to the other side of a piece of heavy metal putting it between him and Wheeljack's project. "I left him to his own devices I think. It really wouldn't matter if he did follow or knows I am here. He would probably just think I am visiting like Ratchet did."

"There is a reason Jazz is head of special ops Sam. Do not underestimate him. I still haven't figured out how much of his fun and games attitude is really him and how much is an act to throw people off." Wheeljack sighed. "I'm still not happy about leaving Ratchet out of this. He is my best friend and even with that aside he could probably help us out a lot."

Sam did not hesitate shaking his head. "No, we need more time to study it. You know how emotional he can get when it comes to this sort of thing. Besides, it looks like he has other things on his mind right now anyways. I met his _apprentice_."

"Met Joe did ya? So what do you think of her?"

"She is what we call a real firecracker and a hell of a fox. Seems pretty smart too, I mean Ratchet even complimented her. I don't think I've ever heard him compliment anyone. I don't think he realizes that he did it."

Wheeljack chuckled. "Yeah she is shaping up to be a fine medic, trained in the arts of both human and cybertronian medicine and dead on shot with the feared flying wrench of doom technique."

"So…" Sam shuffled his feet around for a moment unsure how to bring this up with Wheeljack. "So…um…how is this going to work between the two of them?"

Wheeljack blinked. "You noticed it too huh?"

Sam rolled his eyes. "Jazz tried to get me in on a betting pool he wants to set up with Smokescreen."

Wheeljack's optic ridges lowered slightly and his voice indicators briefly flashed a slight reddish color in irritation. "If Ratchet finds out about that it won't be pretty. I should have a talk with that slagger before he causes any trouble."

"I mentioned the current pool going on with him an Prowl so maybe that will scare him into being quiet a little longer. But speaking of keeping bots quiet we had better hurry an get this over with. Bee will be back soon an he'll be looking for me."

Wheeljack nodded. "You brought it then?"

Sam removed the backpack from his shoulder and gently set it down on the ground. He pulled out a black case the size of a sixpack. Wheeljack moved closer to look as Sam opened the container. Inside the container rested a triangular piece of metal that briefly reflected a flash of blue at being exposed to the light.

"It's gotten bigger since last I saw it" Wheeljack whispered reverently.

Sam nodded as he removed the piece of allspark from it's case. "Its going to get complicated moving it around soon. It went from half a splinter to this size in a few months."

"The rate at which it is growing appears to have increased and is occurring more often. I think you are right in your assessment. We shouldn't move it around anymore. You won't be able to come back here often enough for me to keep arranging for larger protective cases. And we cannot afford to leave it exposed as others will detect it's energy." Wheeljack sighed heavily as he scanned the awkward piece of alien metal in Sam's arms. "I am relieved that it is growing though. I was not sure taking a shard from the other piece would work."

"You made the right move Jack. You knew there was a chance the original piece you used would not recover after being used on Jazz. This baby…" he hefted the allspark gently "…is going to ensure your future."


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12 - Tests**

Ratchet glanced around at the other mechs present as he read his report. Primus but he hated these meetings. He realized that the meetings were essential but most of his colleagues would be better off resting then giving reports. There was not a single officer present who didn't look exhausted. The ever increasing decepticon attacks were taking their toll. Ratchet frowned at Jazz's frame which still bore some minor wounds from the most recent attack. Ratchet, Wheeljack, and Hoist were the only autobots qualified to work the med bay and to say that they were over tasked was the understatement of the millennium. As a result they had been forced to leave more and more minor injuries to the bots' internal repairs.

He took a seat as he finished and Wheeljack stood to begin his report. It was not surprising that no one had any good news to report. Ratchet listened to the rest of the reports with half an audio occasionally taking down a note on his datapad. He couldn't escape the dark thoughts that worked through his processor; if things remained as they were their future, as well as Earth's future, was not looking so good.

Ratchet gathered his things as the officers' meeting concluded and he made his way to the door. Optimus Prime's deep voice forced him to turn back around.

"Ratchet, Wheeljack, could you stay behind for a moment?"

Ratchet exchanged looks with Wheeljack before both mechs approached their Prime. Prowl remained behind as well and encouraged the CMO and engineer to retake their seats. Once the other officers cleared out Optimus nodded at Prowl.

Prowl looked over at Ratchet. "The frequency and nature of these battles with the decepticons has put us in a bad position. It was at one time in our best interest to leave either yourself, Wheeljack, or Hoist here in the med bay during these battles. It was convenient to have a medic already at base for anyone seriously injured enough to require being shuttled in for emergency repairs. But again, referring to the changes in these attacks, we are in greater need of on the spot repairs to keep our forces on the field. Right now that is our only way to compensate for the decepticons numbers which have us greatly outnumbered."

Prowl looked back at Optimus who nodded for him to continue. "We are aware that your apprentice, Ms. Josephine, has been progressing at an above average rate and continues to show much promise."

Ratchet frowned. He had a sinking feeling he knew where this was heading and didn't like it. This was _not_ Joe's war.

Prowl continued. "Would you be completely opposed to the idea of further progressing her training and pushing her for advancement in the phases of autobot medic training? It would be extremely useful having you and the others on the field and have Ms. Josephine be the one to remain behind with the med bay. Do you think she would agree to help us in this matter?"

At times Ratchet hated being right so often. He looked over at his friend and found that Wheeljack's face looked as concerned as he knew his own must look. He was hoping Wheeljack would have something to say, anything, but the engineer just looked at him and remained silent. Ratchet sighed, such is the life of the chief medical officer, the decision ultimately fell on him.

"If you think for one moment that she is unable to do this, that she is not capable…" Prime began.

Ratchet cut him off "oh she is capable. Joe is a credit to her race, and then some. I had just not realized that we had reached this point." Ratchet rubbed a hand across his face as he ran the situation through his processor. "Are you sure about this? I know we have had help from the various human forces and I realize that this is their planet…but this is not her war. I'm not going to lie, I have moral issues with this. I am not even sure if she would agree."

Wheeljack laid a hand on Ratchet's shoulder. "You know she would" he said softly.

Ratchet glanced over at Wheeljack and finally nodded. He knew his friend was right. "Alright. But I want to test her first, I want to be sure. No matter how much promise an apprentice may show I will _not_ advance them without a favorable test. If Wheeljack and I are convinced at the end I'll ask her."

Optimus nodded gravely. "I can accept that."

They spoke for a few moments more before Ratchet and Wheeljack left the room and made their way back to the med bay. Upon entering the bay Wheeljack finally broke the silence they had maintained in the hallways.

"You ok?"

"No, no I am not ok Jack."

Wheeljack's voice indicators flashed a dark blue indicating his shared sadness over the situation they were presented with. "She'll be ok. As you can recall one of her favorite sayings is that she is a big girl."

"Its not that. It's the whole bringing her deeper into something that she should never of been hauled into to begin with that I am having problems with. What are we going to do next, paint the fragging autobot faction symbol on her chest?"

"Not like any of us could of seen this happening. They aren't asking her to join us on the field, at least here she will be safe." Wheeljack looked away for a moment. "Hopefully a solution to our problems will present itself soon."

Ratchet checked his chronometer and sighed again. "Joe will be returning to base soon. If we are going to do this, we are going to do it right. Start setting out the tools, I'll get some chairs."

Joe climbed down carefully from Smokescreen's chassis and looked back at him. "Ok try it now."

Smokescreen stood up and rotated his shoulder. "Much better. Many thanks Joe, this beats waiting on the internal repairs."

"Yeah just remember that if it gets back to Ratchet or Wheeljack that I am doing these repairs for you guys, your aft will officially belong to me."

"No problem. I think it's a wonderful thing you are doing helping us and giving a break to our medics."

Joe shrugged her metal encased shoulders and picked up a large box she had been carrying into base before running into Smokescreen. "We all have to do our part; I'm just sorry I can't do more."

She hefted the box into a less awkward position and grinned at Smokescreen. "Oh and before I forget, if you are going to continue to use my name in your little stock ventures I had better see a cut."

Smokescreen's jaw very nearly hit the ground. Yes, yes of course. I wouldn't dream of…"

"I know you wouldn't." Joe waited until she was halfway down the hall before chuckling to herself. It had been very nice of Jazz to hook her up with that little piece of information regarding Smokescreen. It's not like he was using her money, just her name. And from what she understood of Smokescreen, she'd probably get more money out of his ventures then anything she had ever earned as a medic.

Joe made her way to the rec room and tried to keep a smile on her face as she entered. The autobots taking a pounding from the decepticons had caused morale to sit lower then a snake's ass. A medic's duty to care for their patients was not always physical. Joe had decided to cheer up her friends and take their minds off their ancient war.

The rec room had a decent populous as Joe knew it would considering it was just before shift change. Several of the bots noticed her entrance and greeted her. Sideswipe and Sunstreaker approached her with matching grins.

Sideswipe eyed the box she carried with obvious curiosity. "Whats in the box Joe?"

Joe hefted the box above her head. "I come bearing gifts!"

Sunstreaker raised an optic ridge. "Is this another one of your human holidays? I've heard you exchange gifts on some of them."

Joe chuckled as she walked over to one of the large TV's in the room. "Nah, no holiday. I just felt like not being a bitch today just to freak you all out. Is it working?"

"Since when does being a bitch have anything to do with your ability to freak us out?" Sideswipe countered.

Joe laughed as she opened the box. She began to pull several items from it and setting them near the base of the TV. Several bots had wandered over to see what was going on and her smile widened as their curiosity grew. Joe had first come up with this idea a couple of months ago but it wasn't until she met Sam that she had been able to do anything about it. His connections had made this possible. Sam was a good kid, he had been ecstatic when she told him her idea.

Joe looked around at the gathered bots as she set the last of the items down. "Ok guys, I'd like to introduce you to the wonderful world of the X-Box 360 and the Playstation 3." Huge smiles lit up every last faceplate in the rec room; of course this was after they all did a quick search on the net to find out exactly _what_ an X-Box 360 and Playstation 3 were. "I worked with Sam to have oversized controllers made for you all. And I've put together a pretty good collection of games for you all to use. I'll try to add to them as new ones come out. Enjoy!"

She made her way back to the rec room door and noticed Prowl leaning on the door frame watching the bots swarm excitedly over their new toys. He looked down at her as she approached. "I appreciate what you are doing for them but I hope that these new additions do not cause too much trouble. They can be quite competitive at times and I do not relish the thought of fights breaking out over games."

"Prowl use your imagination. Think about it this way. It is one more handle you have on them."

Prowl raised an optic ridge. "Explain."

"There is no faster way to keep human children in line then to threaten to take away their games."

Prowl looked at Joe for a moment with no expression (which in all honesty was not unusual for the mech, he reminded her of Spock from Star Trek) and then shocked Joe within an inch of her life when he smiled at her. _Prowl_ was _smiling_! "I like the way you think Ms. Josephine."

Joe returned the smile and then left for the med bay. She checked her watch and started to jog, Ratchet could be so pissy when she ran late. She entered the med bay and stopped dead. Ratchet was seated in a chair in the middle of the bay with a table littered with tools in front of him. He regarded her with expressionless optics. 'Uh oh' Joe thought to herself. She checked her watch again to make sure she wasn't late. She was cutting it close but she was still on time. A noise behind her made her turn around. Wheeljack was locking the med bay doors. 'Oh frag' Joe was suddenly more then a little nervous.

When Wheeljack turned from the doors Joe decided that something was definitely up. Wheeljack kneeled before her and offered his hand. Joe climbed on and was in near panic by the time he carried her over to the table in front of Ratchet. She quickly ran over the things she had done recently that could have resulted in this behavior. The first thing that popped to mind was the last prank she had done with Sideswipe and Sunstreaker. She dismissed that idea as she could not think of any evidence that could point to her. Oh the base populace was very well aware of who it's resident pranksters were at this point. But ever since Joe had joined up with the twins it had been growing more difficult to prove them guilty.

Had she left something unlocked? Did she break a tool? Did she screw up the inventory? Joe's mind raced with the various things that tended to anger the medic (and there were many) but could not come up with a single thing that she had done.

Wheeljack moved around to the other side of the table to stand behind Ratchet. The engineer crossed his arms across his chest and looked down at Ratchet expectantly.

"Which tool would you use to correct a warped gyrator and how would you correct it?" Ratchet suddenly asked.

Joe blinked in confusion for a moment. If this was just a test then why the theatrics? "Where is this specific gyrator located?"

"Left hip."

"Internal or external?"

"Internal."

Joe frowned. It was not like Ratchet to keep information back like this. He usually provided very detailed scenarios so she could tell him the proper answer. It was like he was purposely trying to make Joe dig for the information. "Which mech would this warped gyrator belong to?"

"Why?"

Joe smirked. She was beyond this sort of question and Ratchet knew it. "Well because there is an obvious difference between the internal gyrator in the left hip of say Hoist versus someone like Jazz."

"Prowl."

'Tricky' Joe thought to herself. Ratchet was trying to set her up with this one. Prowl's Datsun form was unique in that his lower half had to completely rotate 180 degrees during transformation. Convinced that she had enough information to answer the question Joe pulled aside four of the tools on the table and explained the procedure she would use.

Three hours. For over three hours Joe suffered through non stop questioning from Ratchet and Wheeljack. Energon transfers, coolant pump failures, malfunctioning transformation cogs, processor freeze ups, the list of topics on which the questions were based were endless. Joe even remembered a question being tossed in the mix of where rubber bands were kept in the med bay!

Joe stood near the edge of the table with her back straight and fists clenched. 'Go ahead you slag heads' she yelled in her head. 'Ask another one, I'll answer every last question you two can think of! Bring it!' Which is why she felt like she had been hit between the eyes when Ratchet politely asked her to wait outside a moment.

Ratchet watched as Joe relaxed her stance and climbed down the table. He turned to Wheeljack as soon as she cleared the med bay doors. "Well?"

Wheeljack was stretching not being used to standing still for so long. "She did better then you did after your first test" he replied with an amused flash of his voice indicators. "Is there any particular reason as to why you were asking questions _well_ out of first phase lessons? I almost broke character in shock when you asked that first one."

Ratchet nodded. "I guess I just wanted to see exactly how far she had taken her studies. She still thinks I don't know about her sneaking in here when I recharge to study and practice."

Wheeljack nodded. "So how do you want to ask her?"

Ratchet took a deep breath through his intakes. "Actually do you mind if I ask her alone?"

"Not at all. I need some energon anyways. Just send me a comm. later ok?"

Ratchet walked with his friend to the med bay doors. Joe was sitting crossed legged against the wall opposite from the doors. She had her eyes closed and did not seem to notice when the two mechs had stepped out. Wheeljack waved as he made his way down the hallway towards the rec room.

Ratchet watched Joe for a few moments and nearly jumped when she suddenly spoke up without opening her eyes. "You gonna just stand there?" she asked.

"Are you alright?"

"Why wouldn't I be? I just got my brain picked apart piece by piece." Joe opened her eyes and regarded Ratchet with sad green eyes. "Ratchet whats goin on?"

"Lets step outside for a bit, it looks like you could use some fresh air."

Joe shrugged and stepped onto Ratchet's offered hand. Ratchet carried her out of the base and to Joe's surprise kept walking. Eventually they came to a hill that overlooked the base and the mountains behind it. Ratchet set Joe down and seated himself against the sheer side of a small cleft in the hill. Joe climbed the rocky wall and managed to work her way onto Ratchet's shoulder. She sat down and watched the medic out of the corner of her eye as he surveyed the scenery before them. "You know this planet really isn't that bad" he said softly.

Eventually Joe's inability to remain patient surfaced and she placed a concerned hand on the side of Ratchet's helm. He shifted slightly at her touch. "Ratchet?"

Finally he reached over and gently picked her up off his shoulder and placed her on his bent knee to face him. "I am sorry about the test earlier but it was necessary. You've advanced beyond phase one." He chuckled. "You've practically advanced out of phase two already." Ratchet felt his spark warm as Joe smiled brilliantly at him. "Joe, I…" Ratchet turned his head away angrily. He visibly steeled himself and looked back at Joe. "Optimus Prime wanted me to ask you something."

Joe listened intently as Ratchet recalled the events of the earlier meeting. It seemed to weigh heavily on him and did not dissipate even after he stopped talking. 'Guess my return to the fire house was a little too early' she thought to herself. "I suppose we could use the autobot's government connections to arrange a story for my fire house. Probably something like getting activated to deploy again." She looked back down at the base, in all honesty that base had felt more like home in the last few months then her cabin had in years.

"Joe you do know that you don't have to do this. I know you want to help. But you shouldn't feel obligated; this is not your war."

"No, its not. But this is _my_ world. And the autobots are my family now. I will do everything within my Wheeljack enhanced power to protect them." She grinned. "Besides, I still have a lot to learn and you're not getting rid of me that easily."

Ratchet grinned back "Well I really didn't have any intention of letting you go anyways. Who else am I going to get to clean up all the medical tools?"

"You seem to have no problem bullying Jack into doing it."

"I am _not_ a bully."

Joe nearly fell off Ratchet's knee as she broke into full all out laughter.

Ratchet narrowed his optics and crossed his arms across his chest.

"Oh don't pout. I was just teasing and you know it." She slid down his leg and crawled back up to his shoulder.

"I am not pouting. And why do you insist on using me as your own personal playground? You could always just ask me to lift you back up onto my shoulder."

"It's more fun to climb." She laid down on her stomach and rested her head on one arm facing the scenery while the other arm draped over Ratchet's collar. "Storm's rollin in."

Ratchet sighed deeply at the comforting presence of Joe lying on his shoulder. He'd have to do something about her hand playing with his collar eventually as the tingling sensations it caused were getting difficult to ignore. But for now he was content to just sit there with her and watch storm clouds gather on the horizon. "Storms come and go, we just have to weather them."


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13 - Treating the Wounded**

Joe looked up from the energon transfer she had just initiated on Hound as Bluestreak was carried into the med bay by Inferno. The young Datsun was screaming at the top of his vocals and thrashing about in the fire truck's arms. "Put him on that one!" she shouted and pointed to an empty repair berth. Inferno nodded and quickly did as he was instructed. Joe slid down a leg of Hound's repair berth and ran over to Inferno. He maintained one arm across the thrashing gunner and leaned down to pick Joe up and place her on the berth. "What happened?"

"He took a shot to the lower gut but ah don't think that's what got the youngin screamin" Inferno replied.

Joe nodded. She'd been told that Bluestreak had had a rough past and that as a result he occasionally had these 'fits' after a battle. "Alright, let me get some restraints on him so I can get a look at the wound." Inferno maintained pressure on Bluestreak patiently while Joe applied the restraints. "Ok you can let up, thanks for the help Inferno. I'm sure you are eager to return to the field."

"Anytime ma'am, you sure you'll be ok here by yerself?"

"No, I have this, and I'm sure the others still need you."

The fire truck nodded and left. Joe climbed onto the chassis of the quivering gunner and carefully approached the wound. Burn marks surrounded a small hole in the middle of his lower abdomen. There were some minor energon leaks but that looked to be about it. Luckily the shot had managed to miss anything vital. Normally such a wound was treated on the field but Joe figured that Bluestreak's current mental condition was the primary reason for Ratchet having him sent back.

Joe applied a few small clamps on the injured lines to stop the leaks temporarily and decided that the minor injuries could wait for awhile. She slid down Bluestreak's chassis back to the surface of the berth and walked up to his head. He was no longer screaming but continued to emit a sorrowful moan as he shook uncontrollably. She gently ran a hand down his face and offered soft words of comfort. The gunner eventually stopped his moaning and his shakes were less frequent. He turned his head to face Joe with haunted optics.

'He's still just a child' Joe thought to herself. She was reminded of a soldier she had once treated in the desert, another young soul with the same haunted eyes. That boy had just turned 18 years old. She smiled at Bluestreak and continued to stroke his cheek softly humming a nameless song until he shuttered his optics and slipped into recharge.

Joe slid back down to the floor and returned to Hound's berth to check on the energon transfer. She thought about all the lives that had been forever changed by this ancient war as she finished up the work on Hound's injuries. 'How many Bluestreaks have there been?' 'How many have never even made it to Bluestreak's age?' The human news channels all talked about the war in the middle east and how over the years thousands of lives have been taken. Joe shook her head. She didn't want to know the number that could be taken in a war that lasted millions of years.

"Joe? How fares the med bay?" Ratchet suddenly called across her modified Bluetooth. She had completely forgotten that the stupid transmitter was clipped to her ear and jumped at the sound of the CMO's voice. She decided that after things settled down she would ask Wheeljack to adjust the Bluetooth to beep or something before someone was all of a sudden talking to her. Taking a moment to catch her breath she replied "Hound is stabilized and Bluestreak is recharging peacefully at the moment. How are things on your side?"

"The cons have pulled back. It is still not certain as to if they are retreating or regrouping. With the exception of Hound we've had minimal injuries so far. Thank Primus for small favors. Are you sure you have things well in hand?"

"Ratchet, relax, I've got this. You worry about your side and I will worry about things here. If you keep this up I will paint your favorite wrench hot pink."

"You wouldn't dare!"

"Watch me."

"You even _think_ about touching that wrench and I'll Frag! Second wave on approach! Take cov…"

Joe frowned as the connection was cut. As much as she wanted to make sure Ratchet and the others were ok she knew better then to distract them. She would have to wait until they re-established communication with her. She resisted the urge to watch the clock and kept herself busy by returning to Bluestreak and patching up his lines. She was removing the last of the recharging mech's restraints when her Bluetooth activated again.

"Prepare for incoming wounded! We've got two inbound! One imminent coolant pump failure with heavy energon loss and one…one with a direct hit to center chassis with spark fluctuations."

Joe felt a sudden fear growing inside. Ratchet's voice had hitched when describing the second injury and had lacked his usual confidence. Joe set up the required supplies for the described injuries. Both mechs were high priority on the triage and she would have to move quickly between the two. She pushed two repair berths together so she wouldn't have to waste time climbing up and down and was hanging up the second energon transfer kit when the med bay doors slammed open.

The first injury was an unconscious Ironhide, his frame riddled with shrapnel wounds. He was placed on a repair berth and Joe immediately set to work on removing his protective plating. She whistled when faced with what seemed like a hundred leaks. Joe quickly clamped off the larger leaks and set up an alternate coolant pump. Then the second injury was carried in. Joe felt her chest tighten as Wheeljack was laid on the other repair berth.

Joe did a quick check of Ironhide to make sure he was safe to leave unattended for a moment and then jumped over to Wheeljack's berth.

Wheeljack was panting through his intakes and the optics that regarded Joe flickered weakly. His voice indicators flashed happily despite his injuries. "Heya Joe. How…how are you doing this…fine day?"

Joe crinkled her forehead in confusion. Was Wheeljack just attempting to be his usual happy self or was this some sort of delirium? "Well Jack I'd have to say I am doing better then you are."

Joe began removing his heavily damaged chest plating. "Hey! Your hands…your hands are cold!"

"Sorry Jack." With Wheeljack's plating removed Joe started her examination of the internal damage. Just about everything inside the chest cavity had some sort of scorching from the hit he took. Several of the lines would need to be replaced and his primary energon pump seemed a little sluggish. What worried Joe was that a third or so of his spark chamber was blackened and the heat from the hit had slightly warped it. His spark was indeed fluctuating but not at a dangerous level, not yet.

Joe took an unsteady breath. Spark injuries were advanced cybertronian medicine. Ratchet must have really had his hands full if he had this brought back to base instead of handling it himself. Not to mention the fact that this was his best friend here. That was the heart breaking cold truth about triage.

Joe set up an energon line and began working on his primary pump. It would probably need to be replaced in the near future but for now it was capable of sustaining the engineer as long as he did not do anything excessive. As Joe worked her eyes kept wandering over to Wheeljack's spark. She was sure the warped and scorched casing was irritating the spark causing it to fluctuate. Joe had read up on spark injuries but had no experience in treating them, not even practice scenarios. It had to be painful for Wheeljack but she just didn't trust her skills to do anything about it without Ratchet. So for now, she would stabilize and wait.

Deciding that there was nothing more she could do for Wheeljack at the moment Joe returned to Ironhide and picked up where she had left off. Every so often she would raise her head and check on the engineer and prayed that she would not have to use the autobot version of a defibrillator on him should his spark begin to fail.

Wheeljack remained conscious and occasionally flashed his voice indicators though most of what he said was incoherent. "You know he cares for you right?"

Joe blinked at the sudden question that rose out of the incoherent babble. "What?"

"Ratchet. He cares for you." Wheeljack raised his head to look at her. "He's a good mech, a…a good mech. Closest thing to a brother I've ever had. You'll take care of him for me, won't you?"

"Jack…knock it off. You aren't going anywhere."

"Won't you?"

The desperate pleading in Wheeljack's voice pulled Joe back away from the line she had been welding in Ironhide. She looked over at her injured friend and sighed. "Of course Wheeljack."

Wheeljack nodded and set his head back down. "Good." And then the alarms attached to his systems went off.

Joe dropped her tools and jumped over to Wheeljack's berth. She examined the monitors and bit her lip as the displayed information sank in. "No, no, no…don't do this. Jack! Damnit!" She grabbed a pair of clips attached to the monitors by several cables and climbed up Wheeljack's chassis. She stared at his spark in horror as it flickered fitfully like a dying flame. Her hands shook as she attached the clips to the spark chamber and she held her breath. "Please" she whispered. She pressed the small indents on the ends of the clips activating the energy stabilizer and screamed as electricity arced into Wheeljack's spark. Joe closed her eyes as she felt the heat from the jolt hit her face. She opened her eyes to a bright spark pulsing before her. It still fluctuated in irritation but it was within safe parameters again.

Ratchet ran through the base ahead of the others. He had considered contacting Joe on the way back but was afraid to hear what she had to say across the radio. It had crushed his spark when he made the decision to have Wheeljack flown back. He knew that he did not have the equipment in the field to do what was needed for his friend, and there were so many injured that needed him. He couldn't go back with Wheeljack and he couldn't leave the field.

Joe was more then capable of doing what was needed to at least stabilize Ironhide, and Hound and Bluestreak were even easier. But she had barely scratched the surface when it came to treating spark injuries.

In a perfect world training to be an autobot medic was a lengthy process filled with endless tests, practical scenarios, and an internship which was almost as long as the entire time spent at the academy. War and desperation sped things up considerably to meet the demand for more medics. Joe's experience as a medic with the military and then with the fire department had helped more then Ratchet would of imagined possible. She had impressed him with her dedication to her training and was the fastest learner he had seen in a long time. But still, this sort of situation was out of her league.

He crashed through the med bay doors his optics seeking out Wheeljack. He found the engineer on a berth pushed next to another berth bearing Ironhide. As he passed Ironhide's berth he glanced down at the weapon's expert and was pleased to see that the majority of the work required for his injuries was completed. He continued on to Wheeljack and winced as he noticed the cables to the energy stabilizer leading into the engineer's chest cavity. He looked into the exposed chest and saw that the energy stabilizer was indeed still attached to Wheeljack's spark chamber. Joe was sitting back on her heels, eyes glued to Wheeljack's spark.

"Joe?" She looked up at him and he frowned at the obvious reddish complexion to her face. "What happened?"

"His spark failed. It failed four times. I didn't think it would come back the last time. Every time I'd think it was safe enough to step out and work on Ironhide or check on one of the others it would fail." She sighed raggedly and stood. "In situations like this with a human patient we have something called a pace maker or pacer, but I didn't know how to set up the machines here to do the same sort of thing."

Ratchet nodded and helped Joe out of the chest cavity. "You look awful."

"Well gee thanks. I didn't know that shocking a spark back to life would result in me getting the equivalent of a nasty sun burn. Remind me to give Jack a hell of a guilt trip about that later on. Hey where are you taking me?" Joe looked over the edge of Ratchet's hand when she realized he wasn't setting her down on a repair berth.

"I'm taking you to my office so you can rest."

"No. No fraggin way. There is still way too much to be done and I haven't even _seen_ the walking wounded yet."

"Well then I guess it's a good thing that I didn't ask your opinion first. This is non negotiable."

"You do realize that as soon as you go back into the med bay I will just follow you back out?"

"You stubborn pain in the aft of a femme! Fine! I will have to lock the office door then."

Joe opened her mouth for another comment then decided against it. If she told him she would just go crawling around in the ceiling to get out he would probably tie her up. "Fine."

Ratchet frowned down at her at the unexpected agreement. He set her down on his desk and kneeled to put his optics on a level with her. "I am sorry that I put you in that situation Joe. You were not prepared and it was unfair. You adapted and handled the scenario like a seasoned autobot medic. As your teacher I am pleased beyond what words can describe." Ratchet smiled "teacher role aside, I am forever in your dept for saving Wheeljack."

Joe sank to her knees as tears welled up in her eyes. "I was so scared that I'd lose him." She looked down at the desk. "I was terrified that I'd have to tell you that I couldn't save him."

Ratchet gently placed a finger tip under her chin and raised her head. "But you didn't lose him. Please, for your sake and my own, rest. You don't want me to worry again now do you?" Ratchet gently brushed his finger tip up along her face before pulling his hand back and standing. "I have to go back into the other room to help Hoist and make sure Wheeljack, fragger that he is, doesn't fritz out again."

Joe watched as Ratchet stepped out of the office and back into the med bay. She noticed that he did not lock the door like he threatened. She laid down on the desk and brought a shaking hand up to her face where Ratchet had caressed her. Joe winced as her own touch brought pain from the burns on her face. The last thought she had before sleep overtook her was to wonder how Ratchet could be gentle enough to not bring pain to her burned face when she herself could not.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14 – The Truth**

Joe blinked away the stinging sweat that had dripped into her eyes. She continued to run wishing that she had been able to run in the much cooler morning rather than the evening. Keeping pace on her route outside the autobot base, Joe thought about how busy the day had been. Two decepticon skirmishes had prevented her usual morning workout; and with Wheeljack still not fit for duty that left them shorthanded.

Joe reached the end of her route and slowed to a walk. Shadows of a nearby canyon offered some protection from the setting sun. It seemed like years had passed since Ratchet had brought her here after her advancement test. Joe approached the rock face and began to climb. Ratchet. Now that the autobot medic's name had come to light in her thoughts Joe could not think of anything else. She was still not sure if what Wheeljack had told her was legit or just delirious ramblings brought on by his injuries. She had not been able to bring herself to ask him about it when he regained consciousness.

She reached the top of a cliff cut into the canyon wall and sat down letting her legs dangle over the edge. Another evening storm was forming over the horizon. The setting was almost identical to the first time she was here. The only thing missing was Ratchet. Ratchet again. Joe sighed heavily and leaned back on her arms. "Just because Jack said that Ratchet cares for me doesn't mean he meant it in _that_ way. He was probably just delirious." Joe closed her eyes. "It's not what Wheeljack told me that's got my brain scrambled though. It's the fact that I think I care for him too. And I do mean it in that way. And then there is the fact that I am talking to myself about it on a damn cliffside!"

Joe opened her eyes and caught the sight of lightning in the distance. "Frag!" She quickly climbed back down to the ground and ran hard towards the base. Racing the storm renewed the burn in her legs but did not distract her from her earlier thoughts. 'Joe what are you doing? He is a giant alien robot for crying out loud!' Her thoughts warring within echoed the breaking storm outside. 'I know what he is but it's who he is that matters.' Rain started to fall and in short time had Joe soaked to the bone. 'So he's a nice guy, but you can't just ignore what he is. How the hell would you make it work? You don't even know if he really cares for you.'

Strong winds gusted from the direction of the base slowing Joe's run. She gritted her teeth and forced herself forward. The storm would not win…and neither would the voice in her head telling her that she was wrong. 'I don't care about the difficulties or the consequences! Isn't that usually a part of falling in love anyways?!' Joe tripped and fell to the ground with a grunt. Sitting up Joe forgot all about the rain, the winds, and the lightning. The negative thoughts were gone, the argument was won. "When the hell did _love_ come into this?" she asked out loud. Joe was not sure how long she sat there in the storm reveling in her newfound feelings.

Eventually a slight pain worked its way through her haze and she glanced down at her legs noticing that she scraped up her knees in the fall. Joe raised a hand to redirect the rain from her eyes so she could get a better look at her scrapes. Suddenly the rain stopped hitting her. It had not stopped raining around her, it just failed to fall on her. Confused, Joe looked up. She felt her heart skip a beat as she noticed Ratchet standing over her blocking the rain.

"I thought you said you were going to stop worrying me. I fail to see how running in the middle of a storm fits into that agreement."

Joe grinned up at her robotic umbrella and shrugged. "Well it wasn't raining when I left."

Ratchet shook his head and kneeled offering Joe his hand. She climbed on and he cupped his other hand to protect her from the elements. He stood and began to walk back towards base. "I don't see why you insist on running that far from the base. I don't even understand why you run to begin with."

Joe would never admit that she liked running to that spot because Ratchet had taken her there and seemed to like it. "Running laps around the base is boring. I do not have a set metal frame like you do. If I don't exercise I will turn into a disgusting ugly blob."

Ratchet chuckled. "Doubtful. You and disgusting in the same sentence are impossible to contemplate."

Joe raised an eyebrow "and here I thought Jazz was the flirt of the autobot crew."

Ratchet glanced back down at her and blinked his optics but said nothing.

Nothing more was said as Ratchet carried Joe back to base. Between her workout, the storm, and mental fatigue Joe found herself falling into a light sleep in Ratchet's warm hands.

Ratchet smiled as his scans detected that Joe's vitals indicated she had fallen asleep. Upon reaching the base he moved his other hand to completely cover Joe so that the lights would not wake her. He entered the med bay and frowned as he saw Wheeljack fiddling with something on one of the equipment tables. "Get back on the repair berth or I will weld you to it" he said quietly enough not to wake Joe but loud enough for the engineer to hear.

Wheeljack spun around at the sound of Ratchet's voice. "Ratchet! I uh…I was just straightening up." He glanced at Ratchet's cupped hands. "Is Joe ok?"

"Don't change the subject. You are still under my care until I deem you healthy enough to leave the med bay. And yes Joe is ok short of a few scratches. She is just exhausted." He moved to his office and gently placed Joe on his desk with a practiced air. He pulled a small blanket from his desk drawer and placed it over the still sleeping human.

Wheeljack cautiously poked his head in through the office doorway. "You know, it's cute that you keep a blanket in there for her. She ends up sleeping on your desk more than on the bed in the room we gave her."

Ratchet glared at Wheeljack. "Didn't I tell you to get back on your repair berth?"

Wheeljack shrugged. "Oh come off it Ratchet. I got bored staring at the med bay walls. It's not like I am doing anything strenuous."

Ratchet stepped from around his desk and grabbed Wheeljack by one of his voice indicators. Wheeljack made strangled sounds as Ratchet dragged him out of his office and over to a repair berth. "Now get on or I'll keep you in here so long you will think you were sparked in this med bay." Wheeljack sighed and climbed back onto his repair berth. Ratchet nodded and initiated a scan of his friend. His spark appeared to be almost back to full strength and his weld scars did not seem to have any issues. "You are on the mend Jack but you still need to take it easy. You know better."

Wheeljack ducked his head. "I know." He glanced over at Ratchet's office. "I owe her my life don't I?"

Ratchet nodded solemnly. "She'll get plenty more practice if things remain the way they are with the decepticons. I honestly don't know how we've been able to come out this lucky so far." Ratchet frowned down at his hands on the berth. "We need what the humans call a miracle Jack, and soon." He looked back up at Wheeljack and blinked his optics. He had never seen such a fierce expression from his friend before. "What…"

"I am working on a solution Ratchet. I am _so_ close." Wheeljack placed a hand on Ratchet's shoulder. "There is something I need to tell you. I didn't involve you before because I didn't want to get your hopes up. After my recent…incident…" Wheeljack shuddered "you should know about this in case something happens to me."

Wheeljack took a deep breath through his intakes. "Right before we regenerated Jazz I managed to cultivate a small splinter of the Allspark." Ratchet's optics grew wide in alarm and Wheeljack raised his hands to forestall him. "It was a precaution and I'm glad I did it. You know what happened to the original piece after we used it."

Ratchet nodded sadly "it was destroyed."

"Right. Well, until recently I had the splinter entrusted to Sam to keep it secret." Wheeljack's voice indicators flashed in excitement. "The splinter survived Ratchet! It survived and _thrived_! It's grown too large to keep with Sam so it's been locked up in my lab."

"You secretly took a piece of the Allspark; I don't even want to know how you did that! And then you _grew_ it!?" Ratchet did a quick glance in the direction of Wheeljack's lab. "Has it 'done' anything?"

Wheeljack shook his head. "No. Not yet. I've been afraid to use it after what happened with the other piece. It is now bigger then that piece but...well it's a risk."

"Agreed." It was not often that his friend showed this sort of caution with any of his experiments, but when he did there was usually a really good reason for it. "When do you think it will be safe enough to try?"

"I'm not sure, but at the rate it's growing, soon."

"You know that if Prime, Prowl, or Ironhide knew about this you would be in the brig faster than Starscream running from a fair fight?"

"Wouldn't be the first time."

Ratchet couldn't hold back a small smile. It had been awhile since hope touched his spark. "Can I see it?"

"Will you release me from the med bay?"

Ratchet frowned. "That's blackmail you fragger."

Wheeljack shrugged.

"Fine, but you are still restricted to light duty."

"Works for me!" Wheeljack jumped down from his berth and started for the med bay doors.

Ratchet looked back at his office. Deciding that Joe would remain asleep for awhile longer he followed Wheeljack. 'There's a chance. Thank Primus we have a chance!' A full blown smile had bloomed on Ratchet's face plates by the time he caught up with his friend.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15 – Parts**

Joe yawned and flipped her datapad to a different screen. She had already read all the study material Ratchet gave her so she had downloaded some basic vehicle maintenance adding it to her studies. She sat up with a start as the med bay doors slammed open.

Sideswipe and Sunstreaker sauntered into the bay with none too innocent expressions. Sideswipe grinned when he saw Joe. "Heya Joe, where's the Hatchet?"

"He's been locked up with Wheeljack in the lab all week." She sighed heavily. "I barely see him anymore. Either of them" she quickly added.

Sideswipe and Sunstreaker shared a quick look.

"New plan?" the yellow twin asked.

"New plan" replied the red twin. "Come on Joe, we're breaking you out of here."

Joe looked down at her datapad. "Screw it" she stood up and stretched. "So what did you guys have in mind?"

"You could always wash and wax me again" Sunstreaker said with a hopeful air.

Sideswipe swatted at his brother and ducked a return hit. "I think we need to help Joe find out what the Hatchet and mad scientist are up to."

Joe shrugged "Why not? I could use a break from studying. All work and no play right?"

Sideswipe rubbed his hands together in anticipation as Sunstreaker offered a hand for Joe to climb on to. The three of them left the med bay and made for Wheeljack's lab. "Shall we try the direct approach first?" Sideswipe asked as they approached the lab entrance.

"That never works" Sunstreaker sneered.

Sideswipe keyed the entrypad and waited. Moments later the lab doors opened just enough for Ratchet to stick his head out. "We are busy Sideswipe, what the frag do you want?"

"We missed your ever so cheerful presence" Sideswipe chirped. "And poor Joe was getting lonely."

Ratchet glanced down at Joe lounging in Sunstreaker's hand. His expression softened…slightly. "Did you review all the study material I gave you?"

Joe smiled up at him. "Twice."

"Is the med bay clean?"

"Clean, sterile, and cassetticon free."

"Is the inventory completed?"

"The inventory is done and the datapad with the results is sitting on your desk."

Ratchet smiled proudly at his protégée.

"Ya see Ratch? All the chores are done. So mind if we step in for a visit?" Sideswipe offered a hopeful smile.

Ratchet narrowed his optics.

"Ratchet! Hurry it up will ya? I need your help with this one!" Wheeljack's voice sounded from within the lab.

Ratchet glanced back into the lab briefly then returned his attention to the trio in the hallway. "Look, I really don't have time for your games right now Sideswipe. Joe, since your duties are completed the rest of your day is free. But don't wander too far in case you're needed in the med bay since Jack and I are pre-occupied." He offered her one more smile. "I promise to be out of the lab tonight and spend some time with you then, ok?" And with that he retreated behind the doors as they shut.

"Told you" Sunstreaker said as he leaned against the doorframe.

"Actually Joe gave me another idea while she was answering the doc bot. I say we play 'cassetticon' and see what we can see from the ceiling vents. Joe's been up there before, she can do it again." He started walking down the hallway looking up at the ceiling for an access panel.

"Lucky me" Joe muttered.

Sideswipe found an access panel around the corner from the lab entrance. Motioning for Sunstreaker to keep watch he activated his thruster pack and reached the panel removing it quickly. Sunstreaker held Joe up to Sideswipe who carefully placed her into the ventilation shaft. He deactivated his pack and landed next to his brother. "Make us proud! We'll be near this area if you need us." Joe nodded and disappeared into the shaft.

"Pretty damn brave for a human" Sunstreaker said a moment later. Sideswipe raised an optic ridge at him. "I'm serious! You wouldn't catch me doing what she's doing, to the pit with my reputation. Who knows what kind of slag Wheeljack has in or around his lab."

Sideswipe thought about that for a moment. "We should of given her a gun."

Sunstreaker nodded in agreement.

Joe dug out her penlight and cautiously walked in the direction of Wheeljack's lab. She took a branch that would roughly place her in the back corner of the sought room. A light ahead of her announced a vent. Turning her penlight off she lowered herself to her hands and knees and carefully crawled forward.

Joe peeked through the vent into the room below. She grinned as she realized that it was indeed Wheeljack's lab. She strained her ears but heard nothing so she moved further over the vent to increase her view. A table littered with a variety of parts came into sight. Joe recognized the majority of the items as unfinished frame supports. In other words, a cybertronian skeleton. Joe nearly gasped as something in the middle of the table caught her eye. 'That's a spark casing!' she thought to herself. Joe ducked back a little as Ratchet walked up to the table.

"I know you want it completed as soon as possible Ratch but we are making the others suspicious. It's not like we have a specific time frame to work with here." Wheeljack walked up beside Ratchet. "There is no way to really know when it will be ready to use."

Ratchet picked up the spark casing and turned it over in his hands. "Jack, I know this goes against everything I've ever told you regarding one of your experiments but caution is something we may not have time for." He gently placed the casing back on the table. "We've lost Brawn and Grapple and have come close to losing several others, yourself included. I will not lose another."

Wheeljack patted the medic's shoulder. "We do what we can to save who we can Ratchet. You're a good medic, the best even. But even you can't save them all." Ratchet nodded sadly.

Joe felt for Ratchet. Every medic, whether human or alien, went through this.

Ratchet picked up two frame pieces and looked at Wheeljack with determined optics. "To the pit with suspicions! I intend to be ready as soon as it is capable of activity." He stormed off with the frame pieces into another portion of the lab.

Wheeljack reached out and gently brushed the spark casing before walking off in the direction Ratchet had taken. Joe let out a deep breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. She moved away from the vent and laid down on her back collecting her thoughts. 'They are building a new autobot. How are they going to spark it I wonder?' Joe realized she was smiling. There was always a giddy happiness whenever she delivered a baby in her ambulance; and now she might get a chance to see a cybertronian life brought into this world.

She sat up with a frown. 'I can understand why they want this kept secret but the twins won't give up until they find out _something_.' She stood and made her way back. Reaching the panel she carefully looked over the edge and jerked back as Sideswipe suddenly shot up towards her. Once they were both back on the ground the twins looked at her expectantly.

"It looks like they are fabricating new parts. I know that doesn't sound like much but I can understand why they don't exactly make it public. New parts means more battles in which we can expect to see more of our friends get hurt. It's a morale thing; officer stuff." Joe hoped that the story would be accepted. It _would_ be unnerving seeing something like that. It helped that Ratchet and Wheeljack were both officers and would likely consider the morale of their troops. And if the twins managed to make it into the lab anyways and saw the parts it would just match up with her tale.

Sunstreaker unconsciously rubbed his left arm which had been replaced after the last battle.

Sideswipe looked at his brother with concerned optics. "I guess that makes sense."

Joe offered the Lamborghinis a comforting smile and decided to change the subject. "Come on guys, I've got the afternoon off and I heard that Prowl is going to be out of his office all day."

Sideswipe brightened immediately. "Oh! I've got some of that industrial cement compound left. You wanna attach his desk to the ceiling or just one of the walls?"

Sunstreaker shrugged. "I'm in and I vote for ceiling."

Joe forced her smile to remain in place. "Ok, let's do it." Inside, Joe sighed with relief.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16 – Feelings**

Ratchet stepped out of Wheeljack's lab and stretched. It had been a long time since he helped construct a protoform from scratch. He sighed and started off for his med bay. He wished he could share his accomplishment with someone other than Wheeljack. The engineer was his oldest and best friend; but after working with him almost nonstop for nearly a month now locked up in that lab, he wanted another's company. 'I bet Joe would be excited about such a feat' he thought to himself. 'I hate secrets. There is so much I would like to share with her.'

He entered the med bay and was surprised when Joe was not there. He left and headed towards the rec room in the hopes of finding his apprentice. Entering the rec room he was disappointed to see that Joe was not there either. The only other presence in the room was Jazz who greeted him with a smile.

"What up Doc?"

"I'm looking for Joe. Have you seen her around anywhere?"

"Last saw little red riding hood outside with Powerglide."

Ratchet groaned. Powerglide was no doubt ecstatic over having the attention of a pretty female cybertronian or not. 'Oh now that's rich you fraggin hypocrite' a little voice in his processor echoed. 'You love it when she pays attention to you too!' Ratchet squashed the voice down quickly and hoped nothing had shown on his face plates.

"I don't think you have anything to worry about."

Ratchet blinked. "I beg your pardon?"

"Joe. Me thinks its not pilots that lady is interested in." Jazz placed a finger alongside his jaw line and gave Ratchet a knowing look.

Ratchet's processor raced for an appropriate response. Coming up with nothing he decided to stick with the clueless act. "No idea what you're talking about. I'm heading out for a bit, I'll catch up with you later." He turned to leave but was halted by a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey man, don't leave like that, I didn't mean no harm."

Ratchet turned his head to face Jazz and was surprised to see that the saboteur actually appeared genuine.

"Why don't you sit down a spell? You look like you could use some energon anyways." He offered another knowing smile. "She'll wait for ya."

Ratchet felt a slight flutter in his fuel tanks. It was mostly due to the fact that Jazz was right, he could use some energon. But he was also suddenly very nervous. There were just too many knowing looks and comments coming from the Porshe for Ratchet's liking. He let himself be led to a table and sat down. His optics remained glued to Jazz as he retrieved some energon and returned to the table.

Jazz handed an energon cube to the medic and sat down next to him. "So."

Ratchet raised an optic ridge. "So?"

"So what do you intend to do about this?"

"About what?" he replied innocently and took a sip of energon.

"About you and your feelings for a certain red headed apprentice o yours." Ratchet choked on his energon. Jazz patted the medic's back until his coughing subsided. Ratchet looked at him with alarmed optics and energon dripping from his slacked jaw. "Oh will you relax already? You're actin like I just accused you of bein a decepticon or something." He offered up a cloth to clean up the energon.

Ratchet's hands shook as he accepted the cloth and cleaned himself off. Once done he fidgeted with the cloth twisting it in his grip. "I'm no better than a decepticon" he croaked. "She is my apprentice, my friend."

The raw emotion in Ratchet's voice tugged at Jazz's spark. "Come off it doc. Carin about someone is hardly a 'con trait. You're bein way too hard on yourself."

Ratchet laid his forehead on the table and placed his hands over his helm.

"Have you tried talkin to the girl bout this?"

"Nope. He'd rather just sit in self pity making me miserable right along with him" Wheeljack answered from the doorway.

Ratchet removed one hand from his helm and flipped off the engineer behind him. Wheeljack chuckled at the human gesture and took a seat on the other side of his friend.

Wheeljack shook his head. "He's acting like a youngling, no scratch that, he's acting like a sparkling. I've been trying to get him to see reason and stop denying his feelings for months."

"She's a human Jack" Ratchet's voice muffled into the table top.

"Your point?" the Lancia replied.

Jazz flicked Ratchet's helm. "Wheeljack's right. Love is love man. Who cares if she's human?"

Ratchet sat up straight at that. "Whoever said anything about love?!"

Cybertronian optics were incapable of mimicking a 'rolling eyes' action but Wheeljack did a close imitation. "You aren't fooling anyone Ratch. Fine, _strong feelings_ then. What I'm getting at is that you can't let things continue like this." He placed a concerned hand over top the medic's. "It's eating you up. I hate seeing you like this."

Jazz nodded his agreement.

Ratchet looked at both mechs and realized they weren't going to let this drop. If he didn't do something to satisfy them they were likely to take more drastic actions into their own hands. He sighed heavily and closed his optics. "Fine, if I talk to her will you leave me alone?"

"No" Wheeljack replied matter of factly.

Ratchet unshuttered his optics and muttered. What did he do to deserve this? He stood and looked down at the still seated mechs. "You two fraggers are impossible. I'm going to go find Joe."

Wheeljack and Jazz watched Ratchet storm out of the rec room then looked at each other. "Think he'll do it?" Jazz asked.

Wheeljack shrugged "I hope so."

"Well it better work out cause I hate to see a mech spark broke."

Wheeljack's voice indicators flashed with mischief. "Oh really? So how's Prowl?" He chuckled as Jazz sank into his chair.

Ratchet made his way to the base entrance. Other mechs quickly moved out of his path sensing his mood. The Hatchet was on the loose. He exited the base and found Powerglide near the entrance in his alt form. Two human boots were sticking out from under one of the pilot's wings.

Ratchet tapped one of the feet with a finger and a slight bang could be heard under the wing followed by a string of curses both human and cybertronian. Joe crawled out from under the wing rubbing her head. She saw Ratchet and started to smile up at him until she noted his expression.

Powerglide transformed once Joe moved out from under his wing and offered Ratchet a smug grin. "Ratchet, how ya doin?"

Ratchet glared at the red aircraft. "You, go away." He looked at back down at Joe. "You, we need to talk, now."

Powerglide took one look at Ratchet and ran into the base. Joe blinked and cocked her head in confusion. "Did I miss something?" I had been wanting to check out a flier's systems for awhile and Powerglide…"

Ratchet cut her off by transforming and opening a cab door prompting Joe to get in. Joe frowned but got in without argument. Ratchet took off and Joe quickly realized that they were heading down her jog route towards the canyon. Both remained silent until they pulled up at the canyon wall. Ratchet transformed as soon as Joe cleared his cab and offered her a hand. He placed her on a cliff ledge putting her at optic level.

Joe sat down on the familiar ledge and waited patiently. Ratchet obviously had something on his mind and judging by his behavior it was important. She watched the medic pace in front of the canyon for awhile before he finally approached her ledge. He placed his hands on the ledge to either side of her and looked at Joe with an intense light to his blue optics.

"We've known each other for awhile now."

"Ten months and six days" Joe added with a smile.

Ratchet blinked surprised that she had remembered the exact time frame from their first meeting. "Yes. And we're friends right?"

It was Joe's turn to blink in surprise. "Of course we are! You're the best friend I've ever had in all honesty." She placed a concerned hand atop one of his. "Is everything ok? If you want to talk about it that's cool; if you're not ready, well, I'll wait. At the risk of sounding corny, I'll always be there for you."

Ratchet smiled gratefully and felt his spark skip. He suddenly knew without a doubt what he felt for this human. He started to speak when his comm. line came to life.

"Ratchet. We have a full decepticon assault in progress. Our task force is departing momentarily. I am forwarding rendezvous coordinates to you now."

"Understood Prowl, I'm enroute." Ratchet shrugged apologetically at Joe.

Joe rolled her eyes. "Go ahead, I'll run back to base. And don't worry I'll have the med bay ready." Ratchet smiled sadly and started to turn away. "Hey Ratchet?" He turned back around and leaned in close so he could hear Joe over the now chatty comm. line. Joe stood and brushed a feather light kiss on the medic's lips. "Be careful."

Ratchet nodded numbly. "You too." He transformed and sped off.

Joe watched him depart and drew a shaky breath. "Let's get this show on the road" she said aloud and began to climb down the canyon wall.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17 – Shrapnel**

Inferno's optics dimmed as Joe manually deactivated his pain receptors. She double checked his energon line then gave him a comforting pat as he fell into recharge. Climbing down the repair berth Joe wished she could do more for the fire truck but there were higher priority patients to deal with. She banged a wrench loudly against another repair berth as she passed it jolting the mech on top. "Stay awake Gears! I know you're tired but I need you to stay online until Wheeljack comes back! It's not safe for you to go offline until 'Jack fabricates a new stabilizer for you! You go unconscious and so help me you'll wake up with your ankles welded to your aft!"

"Yes Ma'am." The shaken mech replied weakly.

Nodding in approval Joe climbed up another berth and resumed her work on Mirage's overheating systems. While she worked Joe listened to the battle reports as they transmitted across her Bluetooth. The fight was not going well. She bit her lip worriedly as the command to fall back sounded. This was the second time today she had heard that command issued.

Joe concentrated on her patients and tried to keep her anxiety at bay. She was no rookie to combat and refused to show any weakness. If she remained calm so would her patients. And she would not disappoint her friends, especially Ratchet. Joe thought she would die the day Ratchet ever looked at her with disappointment in his optics.

Mirage and Huffer were stabilized by the time the decepticons finally started pulling out of the battle. Whether they were retreating or had accomplished what they had set out to do Joe really didn't care. She sighed in relief and relaxed a little as she set her welder down. With the exception of a few mechs left behind for damage control her friends would be back soon; and safe.

A loud explosion rocked the base and sent Joe to her knees. Alarms sounded a split second later followed by another explosion. Joe climbed off the berth and ran into Ratchet's office. She found her backpack and dug out the hybrid handgun Wheeljack and Ironhide designed for her. It wasn't very strong but it could do some nasty damage with a well placed shot. "Not in my med bay" she muttered as she attached her leg holster.

Joe ran back into the med bay proper and secured the doors. No one would be able to enter without her voice prompt now. She re-checked her patients and ended up back on Inferno's berth. It went against her better judgment but she needed Inferno online. She set up a temporary fix job and hoped it would be enough. Joe worked as quickly as she could but it still seemed like an eternity before Inferno's optics brightened.

"Wha?"

"Rise and shine big guy, I need your help."

Inferno blinked then cocked his head as his audios finally registered the alarms going off. "What the frag's goin on?"

"The 'cons pulled back and then explosions hit the base. My guess? They flanked us. I got you back online so you can help with the defense. You're still damaged but you should good to go until reinforcements get here. Once they do you _will_ return to the med bay, am I understood?"

Inferno grinned eagerly at hearing of the chance to jump back into the fight. He grimaced at the end of Joe's speech. "Whatever you say Mrs. Hatchet."

Joe crossed her metallic arms across her chest and raised an eyebrow. Inferno made a run for it and bolted out of the med bay to assist the others. Another explosion hit and a ceiling beam crashed down onto an empty repair berth. "Well Ratchet is going to just love that when he gets back." Gears looked at her with alarmed optics. "Keep it cool Gears, have some faith in your friends."

"Joe!"

Joe jumped at Ratchet's voice suddenly sounding in her earpiece. "What can I do for ya?"

"Are you ok?"

"Not happy about the mess in the med bay I'm gonna have to clean up later. Other then that we are ok. Three patients currently in the med bay and I had to let one patient outside to play."

"Good. Stay in there no matter what. The decepticons have brought this fight to our front door."

"You don't say? And here I just thought Sideswipe was on the loose again."

"Quit joking around, I'm serious Joe. We are all back at the base now in full defensive mode."

"Gotcha chief. Be safe ok"?

"Or else what?"

"Now who's joking around you fraggin hypocrite?"

Ratchet chuckled before cutting the transmission. Joe went back to her duties and tried to ignore the muffled sounds of heavy gunfire outside the base. Smokescreen was brought in with half his leg missing and Trailblazer followed in shortly after holding his arm across a mess of wires hanging from his mid torso. Joe sealed leaks and repaired what she could despite flickering lights and the occasional panel falling from the ceiling.

The med bay doors toned indicating another mech attempting entry. Joe checked the monitor and unlocked the doors for Wheeljack. Wheeljack backed into the room helping Sunstreaker carry an unconscious Ratchet between them. The medic's back was covered with penetrating shrapnel wounds. Joe swallowed her fear and pointed to an empty repair berth. After setting Ratchet on the berth Wheeljack walked over to Joe and gently picked her up.

"He was working on Sideswipe's arm when a seeker launched a missile."

"He shielded him with his own body." Sunstreaker interrupted Wheeljack.

Joe looked down at Ratchet as they approached his berth. She already knew what to expect after seeing the entrance wounds but actually seeing the result nearly unhinged her. Large gaping holes decorated what was left of his front plating as was typical of exit wounds.

Wheeljack set Joe down on the berth and began removing what was left of Ratchet's chest armor. Joe had an energon line hooked up by the time Wheeljack was done. They started cleaning the pooled energon in the chest cavity to better assess the damage when Joe realized that Sunstreaker was still standing at the end of the berth.

"Sunstreaker?"

"He shielded him with his own body" he repeated.

"Go to your brother hun. Go help him, help the others."

The yellow Lamborghini nodded and after one last look at the downed medic departed.

"Primus. No."

Wheeljack's haunted tone caught Joe's attention. She looked to where the engineer was staring. The energon had been cleared away giving them a good view of Ratchet's chest and the damaged systems within. There was a lot of damage but all of it looked repairable…except one. Ratchet's spark shone brightly in it's casing, a single piece of shrapnel the size of Joe's leg driven through it.

Joe had learned a lot about sparks and spark injuries after Wheeljack's incident. The one thing emphasized in all her study material was that you could not _ever_ directly touch a spark. Anything more than brushing fingers along it could extinguish it. But here they were faced with something piercing a spark. The shrapnel had gone through near the center, direct contact, but somehow the spark had survived. The question was could it be removed? Joe tore her eyes away from Ratchet's spark to ask Wheeljack. The Lancia met her look with an expression of utter despair. "Don't you dare look at me like that 'Jack. I know you know how to fix this. You always do. You always have ideas." Wheeljack just stared at her. "Please?" A single tear trailed down Joe's cheek.

Wheeljack kneeled down until his optics were on a level with Joe. "I cannot fix this Joe. It is a miracle that that metal did not extinguish his spark when it made initial contact. Removing it or even contacting it will almost guarantee loss of spark. I'm…I'm sorry." The all clear tone broke the brief silence between them. "The other injured will be filing in soon." He glanced at his best friend. "He needs us to keep his med bay running." He stood and placed a sheet over Ratchet's exposed systems. "We have work to do Joe."

Joe slowly walked over to the repair berth's display board and set the marker for priority four. She walked back to Wheeljack trailing her hand along Ratchet's form along the way. She planted a kiss on Ratchet's helm then turned to Wheeljack. "Let's make him proud."

Several mechs made their way to the med bay with a variety of injuries. Joe noticed that Inferno was wise enough to be near the front of the line. Almost everyone asked about Ratchet to which the usual reply was that the medic was recharging and that he would be seen to later once the number of injured dwindled down. The response was accepted as it was not unusual for the CMO to leave his injuries for last. 'He could be downright stubborn about it too' Joe thought to herself with a sad smile.

Not all worried looks were directed at Ratchet's berth. Joe tried to ignore the concerned looks that seemed to shadow her every move. Catching one such look from Wheeljack finally drew Joe to say something. "What 'Jack?"

"You ok?"

"I'm fine." She knew the small smile she offered Wheeljack probably looked forced but she didn't care at that point.

Wheeljack eyed her doubtfully. "You sure? Because if you need a break…"

"I said I'm fine!" Joe took a deep breath. "I'm sorry Wheeljack. I didn't mean to snap. Yes I am tired but it's nothing I can't handle."

Wheeljack nodded then moved onto the next patient. Joe lost herself in her work. She lost track of time and was surprised when no one stepped up when she called the next patient. The med bay was empty except herself, Wheeljack, and of course Ratchet.

"I have to brief Optimus and Prowl. Will you be ok? I won't be long."

"Lucky you. I'll be ok 'Jack." Wheeljack left the med bay and Joe was left along with Ratchet. She walked over to his berth and climbed. "Everyone was able to walk out here tonight Ratch. Everyone except you that is." She removed the sheet from his torso and basked in the soft light from his spark. "Just when I was starting to work up the nerve to tell you…" Joe's voice caught.

It started with Joe wiping some energon from Ratchet's frame. Before she knew it she was fixing a leak. When Wheeljack returned Joe was fully committed to her repair work on Ratchet.

"Joe?" Wheeljack asked nervously. "What are you doing?"

"There is still one last patient in this med bay 'Jack."

"Joe…"

"No Wheeljack! I don't care! I am going to fix what I can damnit and then I am going to find a way to fix what everyone says can't be fixed. Now you can either help or you can mourn the loss of your friend." Joe's voice sounded harsh in her ears but she had no control of it. She turned to grab an arc welder only to find Wheeljack standing next to her. He ignited the welder and gently handed it to her. "I've gotta get him back. I can't give up on him."

"I'll do what I can to help. _We_ won't give up on him."


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18 – Contact**

It was strange seeing Ratchet as a protoform. There was so much damage to his plating that they just removed it all. Joe could still tell it was him it was just…different. Joe chuckled as she imagined teasing the medic about being naked. Cybertronians didn't see it as being naked of course. You just either had armor plating or you didn't. This also included the extras some mechs obtained through their alt forms like Prowl's door wings or defining features like Jazz's visor.

Joe set her datapad down and stretched accidently knocking over another pile of datapads. She stood grimacing at the mess and began restacking. Twenty three datapads in total surrounded Joe on Ratchet's repair berth. She could have flipped through them in Ratchet's office or in her own quarters but Joe never liked to wander far from the medic. She traced her hand along the edges of his helm and sighed. Although she knew it would never happen she kept hoping Ratchet's optics would light up as he'd tell her to stop teasing.

Wheeljack entered the med bay and stopped when he saw Joe. "Please tell me you haven't been in here all night again."

"I was just reading some datapads looking for information on sparks." Joe took on a more defensive tone. "I know we've read them all but we might of missed something!"

"Joe you are going to wear yourself out. You look exhausted. We will find something to help Ratchet but you're not doing him any good if you pass out."

"Well that's the pot calling the kettle black. When was the last time you recharged? All you do is wander between the med bay and your lab."

Wheeljack's optics dimmed slightly as he investigated pot and kettle quotes on the web. "Alright, you have a point. Look, we've fixed him up as much as we can for now. It's just a matter of digging through references for a solution to whats left. If you take a break I will continue looking and I promise to take a break when you return. We'll take turns."

Joe frowned. She knew she was being stubborn and that the engineer was making sense. "Fine, but you had better keep your side of the bargain. When you leave this bay it had better be for the rec room for some energon or your quarters. _Not_ your lab."

Wheeljack cycled his vents in a cybertronian sigh. "Deal."

Joe climbed down the repair berth and made her way to her quarters. Everything she'd read in the last few days since they finished what they could of Ratchet's injuries swam in her head. 'No direct contact with sparks.' That last echoed in her thoughts constantly. 'But something already has direct contact with the spark. The shrapnel has to come out but it would require additional contact to do so. It's a lose lose situation no matter how I look at it.'

Joe entered her quarters and looked around without actually seeing anything. She felt helpless. She took a quick shower then laid down on her bed staring at the ceiling. 'No direct contact…' Sleep overtook her before she could finish the thought.

Wheeljack picked up the datapads Joe had been reviewing. He patted Ratchet's shoulder before pulling up a chair and taking a seat beside the berth. He read through the datapads quickly having already read through them before. He stopped at one that appeared to contain Joe's notes. He frowned behind his mask as he read. 'Interesting hypothesis.' It looked like Joe was in the beginnings of a plan that could potentially remove the shrapnel based on a chance idea. He reviewed the plan along with several variations through his processor. The plan had merit but there appeared to be a flaw, a variable, that still got in the way of success.

Wheeljack glanced over at Ratchet then at the monitoring equipment attached to him. Joe was bright for a human but she was still restricted by dulled human senses. He doubted that she picked up on what the equipment barely told him. Ratchet's vitals were dropping. It was by a miniscule amount but it was a consistent drop. Eventually the change would be enough for Joe to notice. Ratchet's spark may have survived the shrapnel piercing it but it could not last while the metal piece remained. If they were to come up with a plan it had better be soon.

Wheeljack placed his head in his hands as he worked scenario after scenario through his energon deprived processor. He remained that way for several hours and had yet to come up with a solution by the time Joe returned. "Welcome back, did you get any sleep?"

Joe shrugged then climbed Ratchet's repair berth. "I got enough for now, any changes?"

Wheeljack considered telling Joe the truth but found that he didn't have the spark to tell her. "No, no changes. I read through your notes though. I think your plan could work except...exactly how were you planning to get around the direct contact issue? I've been running that through my head almost since you've left."

Joe sat down and leaned against Ratchet's helm taking some comfort in his presence. "Well, I have a theory. It came to me when I woke up. All this reference material on sparks is written by cybertronians right? So when they say no direct contact they are assuming no direct contact by another cybertronian. Metal Jack, that is the factor. Metal is what really messes a spark up. So I was thinking what if something other than metal made the direct contact, something organic perhaps? Like say…me?"

Wheeljack jerked back as if he'd been hit. "Absolutely not! Don't even _think_ about it! I saw the results of when you got a little close to my spark. My spark was near extinguished and you were not touching it and you still got burned."

"I've gotten worse from sitting out in the sun too long."

"I'm sorry Joe but I cannot agree to this. The risk is too great. Ratchet would be spark broken if he woke to find you…" Wheeljack cut himself off realizing he was touching of a subject best not mentioned here. He sighed at the look on Joe's face. Apparently the damage had been done.

"It's ok 'Jack" Joe replied softly. "The feeling is mutual."

"Really? You know he has been driving me crazy over this for months!? He is such a" he checked the web for a good word to insert "chicken shit. Yes, that's a good one. I don't know why he hasn't just come out and talked to you about it."

"Probably for the same reasons I haven't talked to him about it."

"Well then you are both chicken shit for not doing anything about it."

Joe chuckled. "Yeah, I guess you're right. So you going to take that break you promised?"

"I took in some energon while you were gone. I'm ok for a little bit longer." Wheeljack hated lying but now that he knew the basics behind Joe's plan he felt a little nervous leaving her alone with Ratchet. Knowing that emotions were involved as well did not exactly help either.

"Well in that case mind if I step outside for a bit? A little fresh air might do me some good."

"Go for it. I hope it helps. We'll be here waitin for ya when you get back."

Joe smiled then climbed down the berth. Her smile turned to a look of determination as the med bay doors closed behind her. 'How to out smart the smart guy?' Joe stopped by her quarters and dug out her zune. She hooked it up to her computer and put another plan into operation. Sometime later Joe found herself standing outside the med bay doors with Sideswipe and Sunstreaker.

"You sure about this Joe? You know we've never been ones to turn down a risky job but this…well it kinda borders on suicidal."

Joe looked up at Sideswipe then looked at Sunstreaker to see him nodding in agreement with his brother. "We _owe_ him. All of us. And it won't be suicide if you follow the plan and if the rest of the players cooperate."

Both Lamborghini brothers still looked doubtful.

"Look, this is the only way." Joe turned her back on the twins and faced the med bay. "I'm doing this with or without your help. I have a better chance with your help. Now are you with me or not?"

Sunstreaker shared a look with Sideswipe communicating over their link. "Let's do this." He keyed the door open and the three of them stepped into the room.

Wheeljack was exactly where Joe had left him. He barely looked online sitting next to Ratchet's berth. "You ready to take that break now 'Jack?"

Wheeljack looked up and blinked at the trio. "Break?"

"Yes 'Jack, a break. You promised me you'd take one remember?"

Sideswipe picked up Joe and put her on Ratchet's repair berth. "Come on Wheeljack, I'll join ya. I could use a little energon myself." Sideswipe put on a friendly smile and placed an arm across Wheeljack's shoulders.

Sunstreaker smiled from the other side of the repair berth. "Go on ahead, I'll catch up in a bit. I want to see if I can talk Joe into maybe giving me a little wax job later."

Wheeljack eyed the twins nervously but finally allowed Sideswipe to pull him to his feet. "You'll let me know if there are any changes?"

"I'll call immediately" Joe replied.

Sideswipe led the engineer towards the med bay doors. He keyed the doors open and started to guide Wheeljack through when the Lancia suddenly stopped. He slowly turned his head and looked at Joe. His optics grew wide with realization.

"He knows doesn't he?" Sunstreaker asked barely audible.

Joe sighed. "Yeah, yeah he does."

Sunstreaker opened his link with his brother telling him to proceed with the alternate plan. Quick as lightning Sideswipe shut the med bay doors and slammed his fist on the locking mechanism. Wheeljack had not completed his second step towards Ratchet when Sideswipe tackled him from behind and pinned him to the ground. Wheeljack struggled with the frontliner for a moment and then went still.

Sideswipe looked up in alarm. "He's made a comm. line with the control center! You better hurry!"

Joe looked apologetically at Wheeljack then calmly removed her metal sleeves. She smiled as the watch she attached to one of the sleeves earlier beeped an alarm. Twenty two hundred hours.

On the other side of the base Jazz's chronometer alerted him that it was twenty two hundred hours. He activated the zune Joe had given him earlier and patched it in to the phone number that also been supplied. He wasn't sure what this was about but he owed Joe a favor so he agreed to her strange request. Alll he had to do was play playlist number one to a phone number at twenty two hundred hours. Someone picked up on the other side of the phone line.

"Holy Cross Hospital emergency room, how may I help you?" a female voice asked.

Jazz started the playlist and listened in surprise as Joe's voice sounded.

"Holy Cross, this is Lt Josephine ­­­­­­­­­Reilly of ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Washoe County Fire and Rescue. Within the hour you will have a thirty six year old female enroute to your location with probable first, second, and third degree burns. No known allergies, no prescription medications, and the only significant medical history is concussion and some minor breaks." Jazz was frozen in shock as he listened to Joe's voice describe herself as a seriously injured patient. "You can except to receive this patient by means of a red or yellow Lamborghini sports car. Jazz, thanks for doing this, hopefully I'll be around later to explain everything properly. Enjoy the zune." And with that the playlist ended.

Jazz cut the phone line with the hospital as he ran out of his quarters for the med bay. About halfway there he nearly ran into Prowl who was also running in the same direction. "Prowl! We gotta get to the med bay pronto! I think Joe is about to be hurt!"

"Wheeljack just sent a transmission to the control center informing me of the same thing. The twins have locked the doors to the med bay and are apparently assisting her with something dangerous." The two mechs continued to exchange what information they had as they sprinted towards the med bay.

Joe adjusted the energy stabilizer clips making sure they would remain in place on Ratchet's spark chamber.

Wheeljack made another attempt to free himself from Sideswipe's pin. "Joe! Please! You don't know what you're doing! Sideswipe! Sunstreaker! Please don't do this!"

The twins remained focused on Joe and ignored the engineer. Joe took a strong stance over Ratchet's spark and took a deep breath. "As soon as I have the shrapnel clear of the spark turn the energy stabilizer off. After that let Wheeljack up so he can tend to Ratchet. I…I might not be conscious at that point. Holy Cross Hospital should be expecting me soon so get me there…fast."

Sunstreaker looked at her with a concern not many thought him capable of. "Last chance to change your mind Joe."

"No turning back now."

Sunstreaker shifted nervously then activated the energy stabilizer as instructed. Ratchet's spark flared wildly sending a wave of heat over Joe. She closed her eyes. "Forgive me." She thrust her bare arms alongside the shrapnel and into Ratchet's spark. She screamed as intense pain raced through her, but she forced her arms further in until she felt the other side of the metal piece. She tried to pull it out but it wouldn't budge. It would have been easier to grip the shrapnel from the exposed end but Joe was sure that doing that would have resulted in loss of spark like Wheeljack feared. Joe's arms, her organic non metal arms, had to be the last things to break contact with the spark. Refusing to give up Joe adjusted her grip on the back of the shrapnel and hugged the rest of it to her chest. She screamed again at the pain and felt herself losing consciousness. Joe took her remaining strength and straightened her back using her legs for one final pull.

Sunstreaker shut off the energy stabilizer as Joe finally pulled free. He looked down at the human and drew a ragged breath through his vents. She still had the shrapnel hugged closely to her chest even though she was unconscious. Both her arms and her torso bore raw red and black burns where charred clothing did not cover. Her upper legs, neck, and face were burned as well but to a lesser degree. Sunstreaker picked her up as gently as he could. "Sideswipe! We gotta move, now!"

Sideswipe rolled off Wheeljack transforming as he landed. Sunstreaker jumped over the stunned engineer and placed Joe's body inside his brother's alt form. He re-opened the med bay doors coming face to face with Jazz and Prowl. He growled and leaped at the officers sending them all to the ground. "Go Sides! Go!" Sideswipe peeled out of the med bay and tore down the hallway towards the base exit.

"Please tell me he didn't have Joe with him" Jazz asked angrily as he hauled Sunstreaker to his feet.

"He has to get her to a hospital. Let him go or she pays" Sunstreaker snarled back.

Prowl raised an optic ridge at Sunstreaker's tone. "Well I for one would very much like to know what is going on. Since this obviously originated in the med bay shall we?" Without waiting for an answer he walked into the med bay. Jazz eyed Sunstreaker as they followed the second in command.

Jazz entered the med bay nervously looking for any kind of clue as to what was going on. All he could see was Wheeljack hunched over Ratchet's repair berth with his back to them. "Hey 'Jack, what's the deal?"

Wheeljack turned around at the three mechs approaching him. He glared briefly at Sunstreaker then turned his attention to Jazz. "Joe successfully removed the shrapnel from Ratchet's spark but quite possibly at the cost of her own life." He shook his head sadly. "I told her not to. I told her it was too dangerous. But that stubborn femme enlisted the help of the twin terrors and the rest is history."

Prowl and Jazz looked at Sunstreaker who just shrugged and leaned against an empty repair berth arrogantly.

Prowl walked up to Ratchet's repair berth and looked down with a look of awe on his face plates. "He will recover then?"

Wheeljack glanced at the monitoring equipment then back down at the medic. "Well this hasn't been done before so I cannot guarantee anything. But from what I am seeing, I don't see why not."

"I should of listened to that playlist before hand" Jazz said guiltily. He explained his part in the plan to the others.

Sunstreaker smirked. "I wondered how she managed to pull that part of it off."

The other three mechs frowned at the Lamborghini. "Well since you seem to have the full gist of tonight's events not to mention intimate involvement, you can be the one to explain this to Optimus" Prowl deadpanned. Sunstreaker stiffened slightly but nodded in acceptance. Prowl turned back to Wheeljack. "Keep me informed of Ratchet's condition. I am going to contact the hospital Sideswipe took Ms. Josephine to and see if I can get some information on her condition." He turned to Sunstreaker and indicated for him to lead the way. The two mechs left the med bay leaving Jazz and Wheeljack alone with Ratchet.

"She'll be ok, right?"

"I dunno Jazz. The twins got her out of here fast, thank Primus for that much, so I didn't get a chance to see the extent of her injuries. I think she's hurt pretty bad though."

"Why'd she do it?"

Wheeljack raised both optic ridges in surprise. "You have to ask? We were trying to get Ratchet to talk to the girl about his feelings but apparently this entire time she was trying to work up the nerve to tell him that _she_ had feelings for _him_."

"Huh. Yeah, I can see that. So, what happens when he wakes up? I mean, how do we tell him that she's…you know?"

Wheeljack shook his head. "I almost wish he'd stay offline. His spark survived a miracle but telling him about Joe might be more than his spark can take."


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19 – Wake Up**

Ratchet unshuttered his optics and was greeted by the familiar sight of his med bay. He frowned as he noticed some newly repaired sections of ceiling and sat up. His frown turned to a grimace upon realizing that he was back in his protoform state. A piece of equipment next to him started beeping to let whoever was the on call medic know he was online. "Oh shut up" he snapped at the machine as he turned it off.

Wheeljack appeared from Ratchet's office a look of relief in his optics. "Well hello there. I was beginning to think you'd never wake up. How do you feel?"

"Like week old slag." Ratchet swung his legs over the edge of his repair berth as Wheeljack approached. He spared a quick glance at his energon line and smiled recognizing Joe's obvious handiwork. She had a better hand at initiating lines than any autobot medic he'd ever seen. He imagined it had something to do with her experience with starting I.V.'s on human veins. "So I'm hoping there is a really good story behind my current situation."

Wheeljack fidgeted a moment before hefting himself onto the repair berth to sit next to the CMO. "You know I was thinking, since you'll have to re-apply an alt mode anyways you might want to check out the new ambulance Joe's old firehouse obtained. I've only seen it once but I think it's design and coloring would suit you better than your previous choice."

"I suppose I could look into it" Ratchet replied slowly. He was suddenly suspicious at his friend's attempt to avoid his question. "So what happened?"

Wheeljack looked down at his hands in his lap avoiding Ratchet's optics. "You took a lot of shrapnel when you used yourself to protect Sideswipe from a missile. The shrapnel tore most of your plating to shreds so we decided to remove what was left of it. Figured it would be easier to start from scratch."

Ratchet leaned back on his arms and sighed trying to remember the details of the battle. He checked his internal chronometer curious to see how long he'd been out. He blinked in surprise at discovering that he'd been offline for about two weeks. 'Something's not right. I was out too long for the injuries Wheeljack described.' "Finish it 'Jack."

"One of the shrapnel pieces pierced your spark."

Ratchet fell backwards in shock and would of fallen off the berth if Wheeljack hadn't of caught him. Wheeljack helped him sit back up and he unconsciously placed a hand over the new plates protecting his spark chamber. "My spark?! But…but I'm still here. I'm not complaining mind you but how in the name of Primus am I still functioning?" He ran a self diagnostic and detected no foreign bodies, shrapnel or any other kind.

"A certain stubborn femme performed a miracle."

"Joe?"

Wheeljack cycled his vents and finally met Ratchet's optics. "She came up with this crazy idea of using herself as a sort of shield between the metal shrapnel and your spark. I'll be honest, when she told me about it I told her not to do it, that it was too dangerous. She wouldn't take no for an answer. The girl hired the twin terrors to help and keep me out of the picture."

Ratchet ran what Wheeljack said through his processor and came to a realization that made his spark ache. "She's hurt isn't she?"

Wheeljack laid a hand on Ratchet's shoulder his optics full of sympathy. "Let's get your alt form squared away so you can see her. I'll get Hoist to cover the rest of my shift." He helped Ratchet off the berth and the two of them stepped into the CMO's office. Wheeljack contacted Hoist while Ratchet reconnected to the internet to obtain specs for his new alt form.

"Is this the one you were talking about?" Ratchet pointed to an ambulance image he transferred to his desk console.

Wheeljack looked over Ratchet's shoulder and nodded. "Yup, that's the one."

Ratchet smiled slightly. "Did Joe like it?"

Wheeljack smacked Ratchet upside his head. "Give me a little credit will ya? Do you think I would of recommended it if she didn't? What kind of friend do you take me for?"

Ratchet rubbed a hand over the spot Wheeljack hit and glared at the amused Lancia. He took one final look at the images on his desk console then stood to leave the office and wait for Hoist. Soon after meeting with Wheeljack's replacement they made for the base entrance stopping a few times as mechs inquiring about Ratchet's health ran into them. He answered them as politely as he could but wished they would leave him alone. He wanted to see Joe and was growing anxious at Wheeljack's lack of information regarding her condition. They finally exited the base and Ratchet accessed the ambulance images he had downloaded. His body altered and shifted to accommodate the new vehicle form. He revved his engine impatiently as Wheeljack transformed beside him and led the way.

The two mechs remained silent during the trip and that was just fine for Ratchet as his processor was preoccupied with thoughts of Joe. They arrived at the hospital and Ratchet followed suit as Wheeljack transformed and walked to a second floor window on the back of the main building. Wheeljack looked briefly inside the open window then stepped aside for Ratchet. "You're lucky. She appears to be conscious this time."

Ratchet frowned at the comment as he cautiously approached the window. Inside was a single bed and various human medical equipment surrounding it. A heavily bandaged Joe lay atop the bed looking miserable. Her eyes went wide when she turned her head and saw Ratchet. A weak smile touched her lips.

"Hi" she whispered with a hoarse voice barely audible behind her oxygen mask.

"Hi."

"I like the new look. It shows your face better."

"It was my idea!" Wheeljack shouted. "I told you she'd like it" he whispered to Ratchet who in turn shoved the Lancia away and threatened him with a balled up fist.

Joe chuckled at her friends' antics then winced at the pain it brought. Ratchet's spark dropped at the pained expression. He performed a scan on her and felt despair welling up inside as the results were read back. Joe had severe burns over the majority of her chest and arms. Slightly less intense burns were also evident on her upper legs, neck, and face. A more in depth scan revealed damaged airways and lungs. Her temperature was elevated as well due to several of the wounds showing signs of infection, a common complication with burns. Ratchet cross referenced the information with various sites on the web and almost wished he hadn't.

"Stop scanning me you fragger." Ratchet blinked in surprise then offered her sorrowful optics. "And don't look at me like that either. I don't regret my decision and I'd do it again if I had to." She locked her jaw a moment as another wave of pain washed through her. Tears welled up in her eyes "I was so afraid I'd never see you again Ratchet."

Ratchet desperately wished he could hold Joe in his hands and comfort her. He focused on a point within Joe's room and activated his hologram. His holographic form walked up to Joe's bed and kneeled next to her. "I'm so sorry Joe." He attempted to run his fingers through her hair and sighed in vexation as the holographic digits passed through unfelt like always.

"You know your little pretend guy here is kinda cute but I prefer the real you." Joe grinned at the surprised expression on the hologram's face. A nurse walked into Joe's room and stopped short at the sight of Ratchet's hologram. She nearly jumped out of her scrubs at the sight of Ratchet in the window. Joe sighed painfully at the nurse. "Any chance this can wait a little longer?"

The nurse shook her head trying to regain her bearings and returned her attention to Joe. "I'm sorry Ms. Reilly but the doctor took a look at your vitals and insists that we up your meds to compensate."

Ratchet's hologram disappeared as he spoke up from the window. "Meds for what? The infections?"

The nurse swallowed nervously at Ratchet and shook her head. "We increased those meds a little while ago. The current concern is her pain medications. Ms. Reilly has been avoiding them."

Joe glared at the nurse. "Great, you do realize that he is going to give me a guilt trip now don't you?"

The nurse ignored Joe's comment and added the new drugs to Joe's I.V. bag. She looked down at Joe sympathetically. "The doctor said it has to be through the I.V. now since you won't take them on your own. Sorry." She glanced up at Ratchet again and then quickly left the room.

"Why have you been avoiding pain medication Joe?" Ratchet asked sternly.

Joe looked over at Ratchet with a grin. "Pain medications knock me out and I wanted to be awake in case a certain visitor stopped by."

Ratchet cycled his vents in irritation. "Stubborn. You know I could of just waited for you to wake or returned at a later time?"

Joe yawned sleepily. "I missed you."

"I missed you too" Ratchet replied softly. "Get some sleep. I'll check back up on you later." Joe's eyes closed and Ratchet stepped back from the window. He transformed back into his vehicle mode and parked next to Wheeljack who had also returned to his alt mode. "She'll be out for awhile."

Wheeljack settled low on his axles "I should've tried harder to stop her."

"You and what army? This is Joe we are talking about here."

"Touche. So, how do we fix this?"

"_Fix this_? She is a human 'Jack, not an autobot." He revved his engine briefly then let himself stall out in frustration. "You read about it on the internet didn't you?" he asked sadly.

Wheeljack tried to find the best way to answer his friend but decided in the end that the truth was the only way to go. "The human doctors think she will not regain the use of her arms and that she will suffer respiratory distress for the remainder of her life. There is also the concern of increased infections causing more…dangerous consequences."

Ratchet winced internally. He had come to the same conclusions after investigating Joe's signs and symptoms on the internet. Ratchet had been a medic for a long time, had given his fair share of bad news to countless mechs and femmes, and had offered sympathy, condolences, and even the occasional shoulder to lean on. But until now he never really got it; the helplessness of knowing the one you loved was hurt or dying and that there was nothing you could do about it. He brooded in his own thoughts for awhile then absently noted that Wheeljack had been idling for sometime without changing pitch. "If you brainstorm any harder you are going to lock up your processor _and_ your pistons 'Jack."

"Any chance you got a look at her chart when your hologram was in her room?"

"Some of it, why?"

"Did she still have energon in her system?"

Ratchet snorted "of course, she never takes proper precautions with her sleeve wounds, so energon constantly seeps in. Of course the human doctors are not familiar with it so they just call it abnormalities within her blood stream."

"And I'll wager she still has some residual effects from direct contact with your spark."

"Where are you going with this?"

"Allspark."

"Allspark?!"

"I didn't stutter."

"Oh you _want_ to be beaten within an inch of your spark when we get back don't you?"

"Ok ok, in all seriousness, why _not_ try the Allspark? It doesn't always have to be used to spark life, it's been used to fix serious injury. With energon and spark residue still in her system the Allspark might see her as a compatible being capable of repair. I checked in on it just the other day and my spark pulsed with it briefly. It is ready Ratchet."

Ratchet didn't know how much more his systems could take. He briefly considered the fact that he was still unconscious in the med bay and that this was some sort of twisted sensor dream. "You want to expose Joe to the Allspark and _hope_ that it accepts her as some kind of injured cybertronian and _fix_ her? That's it I'm logging you in as a patient to have your CPU checked."

"Well of course it sounds crazy when you say it with that sort of negative tone."

"'Jack, I appreciate what you're trying to do, really I do. But Joe is human. You can't possibly…"

"She didn't give up on you."

Ratchet couldn't take it anymore. He transformed and glared down at his friend with the intention of leaving a large dent in the Lancia's hood. Instead he dropped to his knees in the hospital parking lot hard enough for several car alarms to go off. He dug his fingers into the concrete and shuttered his optics.

Wheeljack transformed and looked down at his friend. "Why are you scared to try? We already know what will happen if we do nothing. At least ask her what she thinks. Let _her_ make the decision."

Ratchet looked up at Wheeljack and realized that he was right. Tomorrow he would run the idea passed Joe and let her decide whether to take a chance on another miracle.


	20. Chapter 20

**OK people, I went through a crapload of versions for the next 2 chapters and to be honest I am still not entirely happy with how they turned out. Please let me know what you think as I can always take them out and try again.**

**Chapter 20 – Fixed**

Joe watched a helicopter land on the helo pad in view of her room's window. A couple of paramedics jumped out and unloaded a patient. Joe sighed painfully as the medics carried their patient into the emergency room and out of eyesight. She loved being a medic and it killed her inside at being forced to watch from the sidelines. Setting her jaw, Joe tried lifting her arms. Every time a trauma helicopter landed she forced herself to try. She threw her head back against her pillow in frustration when the helicopter took off again signaling the end of yet another failed attempt.

"Joe?" Ratchet peeked inside Joe's window and smiled. "Nice to see you awake. I know you humans sleep a lot for the sake of beauty but you are taking it to another level." He leaned against the building his friendly smile turning into a mischievous grin. "It's not like you need help in that department anyways."

"You've been taking lessons from Jazz haven't you?"

"Not all compliments originate from Jazz you know. So, how are you feeling?"

"Fantastic, wonderful, never felt better. So hows about you get me out of here and we go hit the town?" Joe forced a laugh which turned into a pained groan. "Guess that wasn't very convincing huh?"

"You think?" Ratchet quickly ran a scan on Joe hoping she wouldn't notice. Her condition remained the same with no signs of improvement. "Have you thought anymore on what we talked about a few nights ago? Regarding Wheeljack's idea?"

"Yeah, I've thought about it. I'm beginning to think I don't have much of a choice."

"The choice is yours to make Joe. Primus knows I'd do anything to have you back safe and sound but personally I'm not sure the risk is worth it. We really don't know what to expect as it's never been done before. I don't want to lose you."

"I can't live like this Ratchet."

"Well you still have enough energon and spark residue in your system to think about it for a few more days."

"No. I've made up my mind. I'll do it."

Ratchet cycled his vents in a heavy sigh. "Alright, I'll let Wheeljack know. He'll probably insist we do this tonight since you are stable enough to move."

Joe nodded and activated her nurse call button. A nurse entered the room and gasped at the sight of Ratchet. 'Well at least they aren't jumping around anymore at seeing my visitors' Joe mused to herself. "Good afternoon, I'm going to be signing myself out of the hospital today so if you could get the necessary arrangements in order I'd appreciate it."

The nurse raised an eyebrow unsure if Joe was making a joke or not. "Ms. Reilly I really don't think…"

"Look, I've got a giant alien robot outside who says I'm leaving. If you want to disagree feel free to take it up with him."

Ratchet grinned from the window and the nurse nodded nervously. "I'll get the papers started immediately."

The hospital staff worked quickly to discharge Joe and she soon found herself lying comfortably in the back of Ratchet's new alt form. "I think you scared them Ratchet."

The CMO chuckled as he pulled out of the hospital parking lot. "Can't imagine why."

"It's the boomerang, it's gotta be the boomerang."

"Why do you always insist on picking on my chevron?"

"Well it doesn't help that it stands out more in your new form." Joe grinned as Ratchet muttered under his breath. "Oh don't get so pissy. I like your chevron and you know it."

Ratchet enjoyed every moment of the trip back to base. It was almost like things were back to normal as they joked and exchanged taunts until they arrived. A nervous fear of the upcoming experiment started to well up inside as he drove through the base. He was tempted to turn around and drive Joe back to the hospital by the time Wheeljack let them into his lab.

Wheeljack flashed his voice indicators happily as he removed Joe from Ratchet. "Welcome home Joe."

"Hi 'Jack."

Ratchet transformed and Wheeljack carefully placed Joe in his hands then disappeared into a back room to retrieve the Allspark. Ratchet looked down at the woman cradled in his hands and tried to offer her a comforting smile. "Nervous?"

"No."

"Liar."

"Do you blame me? This is a Wheeljack idea after all."

Ratchet gently ran his thumb over Joe's head to smooth down her hair. "It'll be alright. I'll be here with you the entire time." Wheeljack returned with the Allspark piece in his hands and placed it on a table. Ratchet laid Joe down next to the Allspark and reluctantly stepped back to join the waiting Lancia.

Wheeljack ran his fingers over two symbols decorating the Allspark piece then looked up. "You ready?" At Joe's nervous nod he pressed the last symbol and blinked in surprise when nothing happened. "Well that's weird." Ratchet swatted him upside his head. "What was that for? I read up on everything we have regarding the Allspark. Don't give me that look! I got the other piece to work for Jazz didn't I?" A wire thin arc of blue electricity shot out at Joe from the Allspark then retracted back just as fast. "That's a first."

Joe blinked and raised her head to look at the two confused mechs. "That was it? I kind of expected…"

Joe was cut off as a wave of energy surged out from the Allspark. Ratchet and Wheeljack were slammed back into a wall as wave after wave of energy pulsed outwards filling the lab with a blinding white blue light.

Ratchet wasn't sure how long he was pinned against the wall when the waves finally slowed and ceased all together. He fell to the floor and quickly scrambled to his feet in search of Joe. "'Jack, help me find her!" Wheeljack ran over to his friend and helped search through the debris until a noise in the back room stopped them short.

Wheeljack stood and cautiously sought out the source of the noise. He stepped into the back room then leaped back with wide optics. "Ratchet, could you please step over here for a moment?"

Ratchet raised an optic ridge then walked over to see what had caught the engineer's attention. "In the name of Primus" he breathed as he made out a protoform laying curled up shivering on the floor. 'A _femme_ protoform' Ratchet corrected himself as his optics adjusted to the dark room. He slowly approached the femme and placed a hand on her arm. He jerked back in surprise when the femme cried out at his touch.

"The Allspark gave her a major overhaul that's for sure; almost doesn't even look like the same shell we built. What's wrong with her?"

Ratchet shook his head as he completed his scan of the protoform. "There are a lot of oddities but nothing that should be causing her any pain." He gently turned her head to face him. "Can you hear me?"

"I…hurt."

Ratchet's CPU nearly crashed as Joe's voice answered him.

"I could be mistaken but…she sounds an awful lot like Joe. I mean her vocals are obviously cybertronian but…"

"'Jack? Shut. Up." Ratchet cupped the femme's face with his hands and gasped as green optics unshuttered to look at him. "Green eyes. Green optics. Joe?" The protoform raised her hand painfully to her head and stared at the metallic extremity in shock. She began to cycle her vents rapidly as her shocked expression turned to one of fear. "Please, please don't be afraid" Ratchet said softly. "Tell me what hurts?"

"Burns."

Wheeljack kneeled beside Ratchet and looked the femme over. "Burns? Where?"

Ratchet sat back on his heels with a look of realization on his face plates. "Sensory echoes 'Jack. Her mind remembers being burned. New body but the same mind. Looks like the Allspark took our request and warped it."

"Will disconnecting her pain receptors do any good?"

Ratchet shook his head. "You know that new protoform bodies are highly sensitive. Disconnecting the pain receptors will have little to no affect."

"What about an alt mode? Will the extra plating dull some of the sensitivity of her new protoform state?"

Ratchet smiled slightly and looked over at his friend. "You know, that might actually work. 'Jack you're a genius."

Wheeljack cocked his head to the side and raised and optic ridge. "I keep trying to tell you all that but you never believe me."

Ratchet smirked at his friend then turned his attention back to Joe. "Joe? I know you are hurting but I need you to listen carefully. You need to establish an alt mode. Think of a vehicle you know really well, the more detail the better. I will help the process but we need something to work with." He raised her head enough to access a small panel near the base of her neck. "Are you ready?"

"I've got…I've got one."

Ratchet activated a bundle of circuitry in Joe's neck then gently lowered her head back down. Joe arched her back and opened her mouth in a silent scream of pure agony as her body shifted. Red plating covered the top of her head ending in points and framed by fan like fins. Her torso and shoulders became rounded points tipped in black while strange rotary fans formed at her knees. Four thin black blades sprouted from her back then folded in half to match the size of those that decorated Wheeljack's back. As the last of her mostly red and white plates slid into place Joe collapsed to the ground and shuttered her optics.

Ratchet had a brief moment of panic then realized that Joe had simply gone into stasis lock. "Guess that was inevitable after everything she's been through." He brushed a hand across the cockpit that now protected Joe's spark. "I should've known she'd choose a vehicle capable of flight. As if she doesn't send my oil pressure through the roof with worry as it is, now I have to worry about her _flying_."

"Looks like a Dauphin style helicopter." Wheeljack paused a moment as he looked at the vehicle specs on the internet. "Usually used for law enforcement, medical transport, and the United States Coast Guard uses them for search and rescue operations. Very sleek, very fitting, and _very_ sexy."

Ratchet jerked his optics away from Joe to glare at the Lancia. "Don't make me hurt you." Wheeljack held up his hands defensively and ducked his head. Ratchet shook his head and looked back down at the offline femme. "Now we just have to figure out what to do with her."

"She's just worn out. Hook up an energon line and let her recharge."

"For Primus' sake 'Jack I _am_ the Chief Medical Officer, I know damned well how to treat her. I was referring to where we fragging put her. You know Prowl is going to have a field day with this situation. I have no problem calling the brig my home for awhile but not until I make sure Joe is ok. She needs to stay out of sight. I wish I could put her in the med bay but that's too public."

"She can stay here."

"Yeah, there's a great idea. What would you say the percentage is of items attached to explosives sitting around your lab?" Wheeljack started ticking off his fingers as he counted. "It was a rhetorical question 'Jack, she's not staying here."

"Oh. What about your quarters then?"

"Say _what_ now?"

"You said you wanted to make sure she was ok and last I checked most mechs are afraid to enter your med bay without reason; which means they are probably terrified of your quarters and likely to avoid it. It's perfect."

Ratchet closed his mouth with a click. It was hard to argue with logic like that. They carried Joe back to his quarters in a large crate to keep her hidden and laid the unconscious femme on his berth. Wheeljack departed shortly after to take his shift in the med bay and Ratchet suddenly found himself feeling very awkward. Here he had the femme of his dreams recharging on _his_ berth like some ridiculous human fairy tale and he was acting like a nervous youngling with his first crush. After initiating an energon line on Joe he pulled up a chair next to his berth and watched Joe sleep until he too fell into recharge.

"Hey! Wake up!"

Ratchet woke with a start and looked up at Wheeljack with bleary optics. "How long was I out?"

Wheeljack shrugged. "I've only been on shift for four hours. I was just stopping by real quick to see how Joe was. Speaking of which, we have a problem."

"What?"

Wheeljack pointed to the empty berth. "It is sort of hard to check up on someone who is not there."


	21. Chapter 21

**Alright, for those of you who have been waitin for it, here it is, and I know you know what I'm talkin about. Anyways, this is my first time writing something like this so again let me know what you think so I can fix it. GIVE ME THE INFO PEOPLE!! Ok I'm done.**

**Chapter 21 - Firsts**

Ratchet ran to his med bay office with Wheeljack in tow and sat behind his desk. He started to initiate a search for Joe on his desk console when he realized that the femme had not been fitted with a locator yet. "Frag!"

"Calm down Ratchet, let's think this out. Her usual spots are here in the med bay, her quarters, and the rec room right? Since I was in the med bay we can rule that out. I don't even think she can _fit_ in her quarters anymore. And since we haven't heard a bunch of alarms or mechs runnin' around freakin' out about a femme I'd say she hasn't stopped by the rec room." Wheeljack leaned back on the wall with optics dimmed and ran a hand along his mask. "She's either hiding, which I don't think she'd do, or she's left the base."

Ratchet sat up straight "I know where she is. I'm stepping out. I'll send a line when I find her."

"Be careful 'Ratch. She's probably scared outta her processor. It's not every day you wake up discovering that the weird dream you had about being turned into a robot is in fact a reality."

"The last thing I want to do is scare her." Ratchet transformed and sped out of the base. He knew where Joe would be. He was a little hurt that she had left in secret and was worried about _why_ she had left to begin with. 'Does she blame me for what happened?'

Ratchet reached the canyon and transformed looking around for some sign of his runaway. A red cybertronian leg swinging idly over the canyon's top ledge caught his attention. "Joe!" The leg froze then disappeared onto the ledge. "Joe, please! We need to talk!" Ratchet cycled his vents when it became obvious that Joe had no intention of cooperating. He approached the canyon wall and began to climb. "How does she do this?" he muttered as he struggled to reach the top. Ratchet hauled himself over the ledge and spotted Joe sitting close by with her arms wrapped around drawn up knees. He walked over and sat down next to her.

The two of them sat in silence watching the sun set into the distance until only a brilliant red line of light remained. "Joe, why did you leave? You had Wheeljack and I scared sparkless." She shrugged in reply keeping her optics on the fading sunlight. Ratchet gently cupped Joe's cheek with one hand turning her head to face him. "I can't even begin to comprehend what you've been through, what you're _still_ going through, but I want you to know that we are here for you. _I_ am here for you."

Ratchet had been fond of Joe's green eyes when she was human; he silently cursed the Allspark for transferring that particular trait to her new form as those green optics were making his spark flip within it's casing. His thumb caressed her jaw before he forced himself to draw back and stand. "It is _Joe_ I love. Not the human named Joe, not the cybertronian called Joe, just Joe." He walked back to the canyon wall he scaled earlier and lowered himself to the ledge to climb back down.

"Wait."

Ratchet turned and stood as Joe walked up stopping just short of their chassis touching. Her back blades were held high and tense but there was no expression on her face plates.

"You love me" Joe said quietly. It was more statement than question but Ratchet nodded anyways. She raised a hand to Ratchet's neck and caressed his neck cables before pulling his head down so that his chevron met the diamond shaped crest on her forehead.

Ratchet shuddered as he tried to maintain a hold on his logic circuits. "Joe…I don't want to take advantage. You…"

"My life has been pretty messed up. From losing my family to losing the ability to use my arms; but it was _my_ life" she paused briefly and looked at her cybertronian hand "can I even still claim it as my life? I cannot even claim my humanity anymore." She cycled her vents and looked back into Ratchet's optics. "I've changed on the outside but the inside remains the same; my feelings remain the same. I love you" she whispered as she pulled Ratchet down to her lips for a chaste kiss.

The delicate hold Ratchet had on his logic circuits ceased to exist as he gave into the kiss. He slowly wrapped his arms around the femme. Joe responded by tilting her head and deepening the kiss. Ratchet vaguely wondered if all humans could make a kiss this passionate or if Joe was just _that_ good. Unable to resist, he ran a hand along her armor until he found a gap and stroked the wiring within.

Joe broke their kiss with a gasp and looked down at Ratchet's hand in surprise. Even after all her time spent amongst the autobots, it still surprised her how much cybertronian bodies could actually _feel._ As a human she was an experienced adult woman but now she was in unfamiliar territory. She wanted so much to be with Ratchet, to please her new lover, but she was embarrassed to admit that she really had no idea how to go about doing this. Swallowing her pride she decided to play student once again. "Teach me" she whispered into Ratchet's audios.

"Are you sure this is what you want?"

"Love, this is the only thing I am sure of anymore."

Ratchet looked down at Joe for several minutes then nodded and slowly lowered them both to their knees. "You and I, we are the same Joe. We are designed to be medics and as such our hands are our most valuable tools." He grasped one of Joe's hands and raised it to his lips giving her palm a kiss and drawing another gasp from the femme. "Our hands are sensitive." Joe's optics deepened in color but unlike the indigo Ratchet knew his own had become hers were a deep blue green. 'Like the ocean' Ratchet thought to himself. "Rarely touched circuitry, wiring, and transformation seams are also sensitive as are frame protrusions." He demonstrated again drawing a hand up one of Joe's back blades. His guess about Joe's back blades being as sensitive as door wings proved correct as she arched her back with a cry. Ratchet watched hungrily as Joe struggled a moment to recover then turned feral optics and a wicked grin on him.

"My turn." That was the only warning Ratchet got before Joe surged forward sending the CMO to the ground. He let out a strangled shout as Joe bit into his neck cables just shy of being painful. She traced her hands along the transformation seams leading to his shoulders and dipped her fingers into the wheel wells.

"Ever the fast learner" Ratchet finally managed when his vocals started cooperating again. He ran his hands over her hips activating nodes along the way and drank in the wonderfully erotic sight of Joe arching her back again. She fell forward onto his chest panting.

"That's cheating! You didn't teach me that one."

"All's fair in love and war."

"Duly noted" Joe growled then grabbed one of Ratchet's hands from her hip and swirled her glossa around his fingers. Ratchet moaned and revved his engine loudly. Joe continued her assault on Ratchet's hand and fingers while her other hand found various gaps in his armor putting her newly found skills to use. Joe let out a yelp of surprise when Ratchet suddenly rolled and she found herself pinned to the ground by his greater weight.

Ratchet attacked Joe's mouth with a passionate kiss as he dug a hand into the helicopter cockpit located on her chest. Joe bucked her hips at the new sensation. They continued to explore each other's bodies drawing cries and moans as desperate hands sought and found sensitive areas. Ratchet located and traced Joe's data port and gently locked his interface cable into place. Joe's hands tightened on his shoulders as the connection flared to life.

Their systems synchronized and thoughts, emotions, and sensations passed back and forth between the two lovers. The pleasure built over the link and warnings flashed as systems were sent into critical status. Joe scraped her fingers down Ratchet's back as she succumbed to overload. Ratchet cried out as the shared sensation over the link also sent him over the edge and into darkness.

Ratchet onlined his optics and checked his internal chronometer. He winced when he realized it was almost morning and that he had forgotten to contact Wheeljack. The engineer was probably frying his circuits with worry. He glanced down at the sleeping femme in his arms. She had buried her face into his shoulder and pulled her hands up under her chin. It was quite possibly the cutest thing he had ever seen though he'd never mention that out loud. Cute was not a word Joe liked being associated with for some reason. He tightened his arms reveling in the feel of her body against his. Joe stirred and unshuttered her optics. "Good morning."

Joe looked up and grinned. "Prove it."

Ratchet raised an optic ridge. "Prove what?"

"That it's going to be a good morning."

"Considering that last night was a good night and that the cause of that night being good is still in my arms, I'd say that's a clear indication that this morning is pretty fragging good."

Joe chuckled against Ratchet's chest. "I concur."

Ratchet gently kissed Joe's forehead. "As much as I'd love to remain like this we really need to get back before Wheeljack blows up my med bay…if it isn't already a smoldering heap."

"What about the others? How do you think they will handle…me?"

"Originally I was thinking of keeping you secret until I was sure you'd be ok. But you seem to be adapting well enough…more than well enough. I was debating on calling an officer's meeting and re-introducing you, if that's ok with you."

"Exactly how much trouble are you and 'Jack going to be in?"

"Don't know and don't care. The autobots now have a working piece of Allspark and I have you. To the Pit with anyone who wants to get mad about that." Ratchet moved his arms so Joe could get up. She stood and stretched in a manner that had Ratchet debating on stalling the return to base a little longer. Sighing he opened a comm. line with Wheeljack. As he suspected the engineer let him have an audio full but eventually calmed down enough for Ratchet to explain that he found Joe and that she was alright. He also asked that he call the officers in for a high priority meeting. He cut the comm. line and stood wincing slightly at stiff joints from recharging on the ground.

"Pretty rough getting up, you're either showing your age or I wore you out."

"Ugh, don't mention age. It's already somewhat unnerving knowing that I'm involved with a femme who is less than two days old. I can't wait for the talk that will inevitably occur over that."

"The body is less than two days old but the stuff floating around in my brain…correction, floating around in my processor is a wee bit older."

"And what a body it is" Ratchet replied as he wrapped his arms around Joe's waist. "You know, I'm willing to wager your alt mode can support my weight enough to give me a lift so I don't have to climb."

"Yeah, about that. I haven't learned _anything_ about flying yet. More importantly I haven't exactly figured out how to transform."

"Both easily correctable, though I'm surprised my star pupil hasn't figured it out on her own yet."

"Smart aft, you're gonna pay for that later."

"Promise?"

"Well that all depends on if Prowl throws you in the brig tonight."

"Good point. Alright as far as flight, just download it off the internet."

"How?"

"Your brain is a CPU now. You've used computers before; the only difference is you don't need to bother with a mouse or typing. Just thinking about doing it should suffice." Joe narrowed her optics as if concentrating on something. Her optic ridges suddenly shot up in surprise.

"Holy crap."

"Just that simple. Now as for transforming, same thing, just think about doing it and your body should respond." He stepped back and watched with a smile. "I've wanted to see your transformation and alt mode since your change."

Joe smirked then stared down at her feet with a look of determination. Suddenly she leaped into the air her feet rotating back and her knees closing up to bring her split tail rotators together. At the same time her cockpit flipped back and her shoulders rotated onto her chest with her arms folded up inside. She yelped as she landed with a crash on the ground. "Frag, that hurt! If my transformation requires me to leap up like that I guess I need to initiate flight the instant it's complete."

Ratchet was impressed with Joe's transformation but struggled to keep from laughing when she basically belly flopped onto the ground. He walked around the Dauphin helicopter examining the aircraft with admiration. It would not be as fast as a seeker but it would be far more agile. Ratchet hoped she'd never have to square off against a seeker to test the theory. "Very nice. I think you're right about having to initiate flight after transformation but I believe you have retractable wheels should you choose to remain on the ground."

Joe knew about the wheels but was so caught up in transforming for the first time that she had forgotten about them. She deployed the wheels picking herself up off the ground with a sigh. "Well I feel stupid."

"Lesson learned. Now about that lift?"

"I'm workin' on it!" Joe was amazed at the information she picked up off the internet. There was no real learning, it was just as if she had always known once she accessed the downloads. She started her turbines and her blades began to rotate picking up speed quickly. After a flawless lift off she flew a few circles around Ratchet then pulled a sudden nose dive over the cliff.

Ratchet felt his spark freeze as he ran to the ledge. Joe laughed as she hovered back up to his optic level. "You glitched femme! You actually enjoy scaring me half to death don't you?!"

"It's a hobby." She hovered above Ratchet "so do you trust me or did you want to climb down?"

"I trust you with my spark." He held onto Joe and let the femme lift him into the air. She flew over the ledge and slowly lowered the CMO to the ground touching down softly.

"Our frames may be close in height but you are a lot heavier than you let on!"

"I am not built for flight like you are." He transformed and started for the autobot base. He watched with amusement as Joe experimented with her new form in a display of aerial acrobatics during the trip. He pulled up to the front of the base and met with Wheeljack at the entrance.

Wheeljack blinked and looked around. "So where is she?"

Ratchet transformed and turned a circle realizing that Joe had disappeared. He sighed in relief when he spotted her peeking out from some rocks to the side of the base. "Why did you land over there? It's just Wheeljack." He smacked the engineer over the head drawing a string of curses from his friend. "See? No tricks, just crazy mad scientist." Joe stepped out and walked over keeping her optics on the ground. Ratchet glanced over at the Wheeljack. "She's afraid of how others will see her now" he whispered.

Wheeljack nodded. "Love the new look Joe. Once a red head always a red head huh?" Joe's lips twitched threatening to smile as she ran a hand over her pointed red head plates. "It's good to have you back." He surprised the femme with a hug. "You ready to do this?"

Joe cycled her vents and hugged her friend back tightly. "I'm ready."

Ratchet smiled as his best friends separated. He grabbed Joe's hand giving it a squeeze before moving up to walk side by side with Wheeljack indicating for Joe to follow behind. The two mechs led the femme into the base ignoring the looks and murmurs of fellow autobots on the way. They reached the conference room and Wheeljack palmed open the door. He entered first and made enough room for Ratchet as they stood just inside the door keeping Joe hidden behind them.

Optimus Prime sat at the end of the conference table with Prowl standing next to him looking over a datapad. Jazz sat on the other side of Prime and was the first to notice the new arrivals. He reached behind Prime and poked Prowl before returning his attention to the door. Prowl straightened with a frown "alright Wheeljack, what is the reason for this meeting?"

Wheeljack's voice indicators flickered nervously as the rest of the autobots' officers turned to regard him. "Ratchet and I have something to show you." He shared a look with the CMO and then they stepped aside to reveal Joe. Prowl's datapad hitting the floor seemed loud in the silent conference room.

Joe stepped before the table and stood at attention snapping off a sharp salute. "Lieutenant Josephine Reilly formally of the United States Army Reserve Medical Corps, formally of Washoe County Fire and Rescue, and formally of the human race reporting for duty."

Optimus Prime stood slowly and walked around the table to Joe. He looked down at the femme still standing at attention "please, be at ease." Joe dropped her salute but seemed unable to relax her stance. He looked at the two mechs that brought her. "How is this possible?"

"I successfully cultivated a piece of the Allspark from the piece used on Jazz. We used it on Joe hoping it would use the energon in her system combined with the residue from Ratchet's spark to heal her." Wheeljack placed a hand on Joe's shoulder. "What you see here is the result of that."

Optimus' optics went wide at the mention of the Allspark. He looked back at the human turned cybertronian with disbelief.

Prowl walked up next to Prime. "You two somehow cultivated a piece of the Allspark without informing us?"

Wheeljack nodded nervously.

"And then you used it on a human ally without knowing what it would do?"

Ratchet turned his head sharply at the second in command. "We used it to save a _friend_."

Optimus cycled his vents heavily. "Ms. Josephine, this is not something that has ever occurred in my lifetime or of any other lifetime that I am aware of. I am sure you can appreciate our situation and hope that you don't mind if I discuss this with my officers in private. We will send for you shortly." He started to return to his place at the end of the table when he looked back over his shoulder with a smile unhidden by his retracted mask. "I am grateful to see you unharmed and well. You were missed."

Joe smiled then performed an about face and strode out of the room. She came to an abrupt halt outside the closing doors as numerous mechs in the hallway turned their attention to her. Apparently word spread quickly. "Miss me?"

"Holy slagging Primus! That's Joe!" Sideswipe leaped out of the crowd with a smile and picked the femme up by the shoulders. "Sunny! Look! She's back!"

Sunstreaker shoved his way through the crowd to his brother. "Call me Sunny again and I'll remove you bumper and shove it up your aft." He blinked at the femme dangling in the air by her shoulders. "Lookin' good Joe. Not as good as me, but not bad."

Sideswipe grinned at Joe. "Nice" he said without any attempt to hide his wandering optics on her frame.

"Yeah yeah, put me down you fragger or I will make Sunstreaker's threat seem like a massage."

Hound chuckled from the on looking crowd. "Yeah, that's Joe alright. I've heard that mouth more than once when she was welding me up in the med bay. Good to have you back girl. So you going to tell us what happened or what?"

Joe hitched her shoulders when Sideswipe put her back on the ground. "I think I have to wait until the higher ups have their little chat" she replied as she jerked a thumb back at the closed conference room door.

Sideswipe put an arm around her. "Officer stuff huh? Booooring. This could take awhile. Wanna catch up in the rec room over some energon?"

Joe raised an optic ridge but allowed the Lamborghini to guide her to the rec room. Before she knew it she was sitting at a table and poking a finger at an energon cube in front of her much to the amusement of the mechs that had joined them.

"Just drink it" Sideswipe laughed and took a drink of his own energon.

Joe timidly sipped at the cube and jerked back in surprise. It was not as good as the Chinese food she was fond of but it was not half bad. By the time she finished the cube she felt a hundred times better.

"So what's with the back thingies?" Sideswipe asked as he flicked one of Joe's back blades.

At a neighboring table Bluestreak flinched and twitched his door wings. Being an owner of back protrusions himself he had a good idea of what to suspect. "Sideswipe you probably shouldn't…"

Joe sat up rod straight with wide optics the second Sideswipe made contact. She turned to face the frontliner who looked back with a goofy grin. She leaped into the air transforming and initiated flight at the same instant. She hovered near the ceiling for a moment then dove at the red twin sending him flying backwards out of his chair.

Sideswipe laid on his back staring up at the ceiling in shock when Joe transformed again and stood over him. "No touchy, got it."

Joe grinned and offered Sideswipe a hand pulling the larger mech to his feet. They sat back down at the table and Joe felt her spark warm at the acceptance of her friends and relaxed. She chatted happily with the others until a comm. line opened and Prowl called for her to return. She winced and stood "show time folks." Several of the mechs had to return to duty but a fair amount of them accompanied Joe back to the conference room and wished her luck as she entered officer country.

All the officers stood as Joe entered the room and resumed her position of attention at the end of the table. Optimus walked up with Prowl and Jazz flanking him. He placed a hand on her shoulder and smiled. "Welcome to the autobots."


	22. Chapter 22

**JUST AS A HEADS UP FOR THOSE OF YOU FOLLOWING THIS STORY **

The Doctors and Patients story has grown into quite the monster. I never meant for it to go this long. Anyways, I started up a part two story to this under the name Doctors and Patients Part Two...real original right? So if you want to follow along check it out. Thanks again for all the reviews! Keep em coming, those things are like crack for me!

-Sgt Duck


	23. Chapter 23

*******Added this since most the people who requested it have little email notifications attached to this. As requested I drew a picture of Joe so you can see what she looks like. I added the attachments on my profile thingy. Be gentle! I only have colored pencils and pens to work with out here! Enjoy!!*******


	24. Chapter 24

In an attempt to break through the writer's block I am experiencing with this story, I re-read 'Doctors and Patients' from start to finish the other day. Holy crap; there are an ass load of mistakes, things that just don't mesh, and well… overall there are just some things I'd like to change/take in another direction. I respect your all's opinions so I am asking this first. How pissed off would you all be if I re-wrote this fic? It wouldn't be a COMPLETE overhaul, but there would be some hefty changes. I gotta be honest with ya folks, without the changes I'm really not all that sure how much further I can take this story.

*Takes cover behind her patrol car*

Ok, let me know what you all think. Please be honest, I can take it. 


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